


all that is between our skies

by quiddative



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon-Typical Violence, Endgame Heith, Friends With Benefits, Friends With Benefits To Lovers, Hunk (Voltron) Whump, Hunk (Voltron)-centric, Hurt/Comfort, Keith (Voltron) is Bad at Feelings, Kidnapping, M/M, Minor Violence, Not Canon Compliant, One-Sided Keith/Shiro (Voltron), Pining, Pining Hunk (Voltron), Psychological Torture, Season/Series 05, Season/Series 06, Season/Series 07, Sexual Content, Slow Burn, Team Voltron Family, Temporarily Unrequited Love, Temporary Unrequited Heith, The Black Paladins rewrite, Unrequited Love, Vomiting, Whump, background Adashi, brief mention of attempted suicide
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-03
Updated: 2019-08-06
Packaged: 2019-09-06 10:47:07
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 78,955
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16831117
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/quiddative/pseuds/quiddative
Summary: Right, Hunk thought as reality filtered back into his brain. Keith didn’t pick him for him—he just happened to be the only other available teenage boy stuck in space who wasn’t Lance.Hunk is in love with Keith. Keith is in love with Shiro. Hunk knows this, but that doesn't stop him from falling into a friends with benefits arrangement with Keith. After all, it's just sex, right?Then Hunk gets captured by the Galra.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> There is not enough whump in this fandom, let alone Hunk whump, so this is my way of rectifying that with this monster.
> 
> I've only edited this once so I apologize for any mistakes that you see, and will likely go back and fix them later. I also have roughly 30k written so far, including this chapter, so I'm aiming to update every Monday. 
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoy!

It was only because Hunk literally had his hands full that he didn’t pinch himself to check if he was dreaming as he sank into Keith. It didn’t matter that this wasn’t even the first time they had sex, a part of him still couldn’t believe that it was _actually_ _happening_. That Keith picked _him_.

“ _Fuck_ , you’re so big,” Keith gasped, arching his back in a way that made Hunk want to kiss it.

So he did. He had learned very quickly during their first time together that Keith had no room for gentleness in bed, much like in all other aspects of his life. Hunk had almost been too scared and overwhelmed to even lay his hands on the other boy. Because Keith was—he was _Keith_. Gorgeous, strong, intense—everything that Hunk wasn’t.

And he didn’t want to risk ruining that in any way.

It took Keith barking at him to _just touch him already_ while in the middle of giving him a blowjob for Hunk to finally have the courage to do so.

Now, he kissed his way up Keith’s spine as he rocked in and out of him. Keeping one hand on Keith’s waist, he reached down and hesitantly tangled their fingers together with his other hand—Keith let him.

“I got you,” Hunk gasped into his skin. He wasn’t sure if Keith had heard him or not but that was okay. He could barely think, let alone _talk_ right now himself. Keith felt _amazing_ around him and the noises he was making were easily a million times sexier than all his wildest fantasies _combined_.

He was close. The fire in his core was building up so quickly that he could almost feel its heat, as hot as a star, in his lungs. It flickered at his throat and made his eyes water. He let go of Keith’s waist to wrap his hand around the other boy’s cock, pumping it in time with his thrusts.

Keith let out a whine that sounded like honey to Hunk’s ears.

And then Hunk was _gone_.

It took every ounce of energy to stay on his knees, to focus on _not_ crushing Keith before the other boy could even come, but he managed. He continued fucking into Keith in the aftermath of his orgasm, thrusts growing erratic, and sped up his strokes over Keith’s dick.

Keith moaned and threw his head back, right into the crook of Hunk’s shoulder. “Ah-Ah! _Shiro!_ ” he cried as he came.

Hunk’s blood froze in his veins and something in his chest fell, shattering like glass once it hit the bottom of his stomach. Then his body simply sagged, but he still took care not to collapse on top of Keith.

 _Right_ , he thought as reality filtered back into his brain. Keith didn’t pick him for _him_ —he just happened to be the only other available teenage boy stuck in space who wasn’t Lance.

And even though Hunk ~~had been too afraid to ask~~ didn’t ask at the time, he had a strong suspicion that Shiro was a part of that. There had been something _different_ about him after Keith pulled him out of the Galra ship, but Hunk couldn’t put his finger on what it was, exactly. Darker, colder, like the war had taken more than just his arm and it was finally beginning to show.

Not even Keith, who everyone _knew_ was Shiro’s closest friend, could seem to reach him this time. And it was killing him.

Maybe that was why Keith left them.

As much as Hunk looked up to and even loved Shiro, a small, ugly part of him _hated_ the man. It didn’t matter that he had no control over Keith’s feelings for him, that didn’t stop Hunk’s brain from occasionally whispering on the nights he had trouble sleeping, _I wish we never found him_.

* * *

“You could stay. It’s late and no one’s going to notice if you get up early enough,” said Hunk, trying to keep his voice casual. He didn’t know how much he succeeded.

Keith shook his head as he zipped his Marmora suit up. Hunk would never, never admit it, but he kind of liked seeing Keith in it more than the Paladin armour, even though he would infinitely prefer to have Keith back on the team. “No, we’re heading back to HQ soon anyway. It’s better if I’m closer to the other Blades.”

“Oh. Right. Totally.” Hunk sank further beneath his blankets. Keith never stayed the night, he knew this, but it didn’t stop the disappointment from forming a knot in his stomach.

Keith paused and gave Hunk a considering look, biting his bottom lip in the way that Hunk now knew meant he had something on his mind and was trying to figure out how to say it without offending anyone. It was a noticeable contrast from the wildfire of a boy he met at the Garrison all those years ago. It was like looking at a mirror that was cracked right down the middle, splitting the reflection into two continents.

“Hey, Hunk? About what happened earlier…”

Hunk could already see the shape of the _I’m sorry_ on Keith’s chapped lips and felt a cold invisible hand squeeze his heart. He suddenly knew, without a doubt, that he was going to burst out crying—ugly tears, snot, the whole nine yards—if he had to sit here and listen to Keith apologize for calling out Shiro’s name. It felt too much like regret and Hunk didn’t think that he could bear being seen as a mistake, not when Keith meant so much to him.

So he cut Keith off before he could get any further, “Hey, don’t worry about it! I mean, this was just sex. I know this, you know this—of course you know this, because that’s what you told me when we first started this.” He knew he was babbling but his mouth didn’t seem to get the clue to _shut up already_. “A-And obviously, when people get into the heat of the moment, they can say just about anything.” He swallowed. “So, don’t worry about it,” he repeated lamely.

Keith raised an eyebrow. There was some skepticism in his gaze but he at least seemed distracted enough by Hunk’s rambling that he probably wasn’t going to bring up the Shiro thing again. “Okay, if you’re sure…” he said slowly.

After giving himself a onceover to make sure he hadn’t forgotten anything, Keith turned back to Hunk and gave him a small smile. It was unsure but genuine, kind of like Keith in general.

“Well, goodnight,” he said awkwardly.

“Yeah, g’night,” Hunk whispered back.

And then Keith was gone. The door closed behind him, plunging the room back into a darkness that was abated by the ocean blue glow of the ship’s crystals.

Hunk sighed and rolled over to face the wall, curling into a ball. The knot in his stomach remained tightly wound for the rest of the night.

* * *

A few days later, Hunk was baking in the kitchen, blasting music out of the speakers he and Pidge jury-rigged together out of spare parts during their first couple of weeks in space, and singing along with the artist at the top of his lungs, when Lance walked in.

“Hey,” Hunk called out, glancing briefly at him just before putting the buns—or at least he _hoped_ they were going to turn out to be steamed buns—into the Altean steamer. “What’s up?”

Lance opened his mouth to say something, paused, cocked his head to the side, and finally replied, “Dude, this song is _depressing_. Don’t you have anything more upbeat?”

It was Hunk’s turn to cock his head to the side. The song was a jazz number with a full ensemble of trumpets and a piano. “What are you talking about?”

“ _I know you don't love me, but still I burn for you; I know you don't love me, but the message can’t get through?_ ” Lance asked, repeating the chorus in an incredulous tone.

Hunk blushed. He honestly hadn’t even considered the lyrics when he put the song on, but then again...if this was his subconscience’s way of sending him a message, then that was just mean.

“What, did you get your heart broken or something?” Lance continued.

_Shiro!_

Hunk knew Lance only meant it as a joke but that didn’t stop him from flinching as he was bombarded with memories of the last time he hooked up with Keith.

Lance’s eagle eyes narrowed and the other boy crossed his arms over his chest, lips thinning into a frown. “ _Did_ you?” he asked.

“It’s not what you think,” Hunk protested weakly. For a heartbeat, he considered lying, but dismissed the idea just as quickly as it had come. First of all, Lance was his best friend. If Hunk couldn’t even be honest with him, then who else could he be honest with?

And secondly, he couldn’t lie for shit and they both knew this.

Lance leaned against the counter, his eyes never leaving Hunk. “Okay, then what is it?” His tone and posture were casual but Hunk wasn’t fooled. He reminded Hunk of his childhood cat that had this way of looking at you when she wanted food and knew that the only way to get to it was through you. She was a schemer, that one, and the calculating expression on Lance’s face was unnervingly similar to the one Hunk had seen on his cat’s face many, many times.

“Was it Keith?”

“No!” Hunk protested instinctively. At Lance’s raised eyebrow, he sighed. “Okay, yes, it’s kind of related to him. But he didn’t do anything, I promise!”

Lance snorted. “Now why do I find _that_ so hard to believe?”

Hunk looked away and wrung his fingers together. He stared at the clock above the steamer, which told him he had about five more minutes to go before the buns were ready. Quiznak. “The other night, when we were...you know…”

“Ugh, seriously, of all people, why him?”

“...he...he called out Shiro’s name,” Hunk said quietly, still staring at the clock.

There was no response for a few seconds. The only thing Hunk could hear was the soft hum of the ship’s engines churning behind the walls. It had taken Hunk weeks to be able to fall asleep with that constantly running in the background, but he was used to it now. In fact, he had even begun to find it comforting.

Then, inevitably, Lance shattered the silence with an indignant shriek, “He did _what_?” He shoved away from the counter and balled his hands into fists. “That son of a bitch—”

“It was the heat of the moment!” Hunk said quickly, repeating the very words he told Keith that night. “And besides, none of the—the sex ever meant anything. We’re just friends with benefits.” 

“That still doesn’t give him the right to be _rude_ , Jesus,” Lance hissed. He looked like he was a hair’s breadth away from taking off to the Blade of Marmora’s base to personally deliver a punch to Keith’s face.

Seeing Lance freak out like this on his behalf would be funny, and even touching, if the reason for it was literally anything else than what it was.

“It didn’t mean anything,” Hunk repeated more softly, even though he knew deep down that it wasn’t true. It might not have meant anything to Keith, but it did to him, and that made it worse. “Look, I’m the one who said ‘yes’ to this whole thing in the first place. I didn’t have to but I did. It’s not Keith’s fault that he has feelings for Shiro.”

“No, but it _is_ his fault for being too much of an idiot to at least do something about it instead of pining uselessly all the way from the other side of the galaxy,” Lance muttered, but he unclenched his fists and didn’t look like he was at risk of jumping into Red to commit an act of violence in Hunk’s name anymore. “I don’t get why you’re doing this to yourself, Hunk. Even if it weren’t Keith, you deserve someone way better than a jerk who can’t see how awesome you are.”

As touched as Hunk was by his best friend’s support, he still felt obligated to defend the boy he had been head over heels for ever since he first laid eyes on him at the Garrison. “I could ask you the same thing about Allura,” he pointed out calmly.

Lance flushed and sputtered incoherently for a few seconds but, tellingly, didn’t actually deny it.

“Et tu, Hunk?” Lance gasped, slapping a hand over his chest and falling straight into Hunk’s waiting arms. “I am dead, Hunk, _dead_ , I tell you. Betrayed in my own home by my brother from another mother! I don’t know how I will ever recover— _if_ I will ever recover!” He brought his arm over his eyes and let out a deep exaggerated sigh.

Hunk snickered. Lance’s flair for the dramatics could occasionally be annoying but this was not one of those times.

“Would a steamed pork bun help?” Hunk wheedled.

Lance perked up. “Possibly,” he said magnanimously. “I might have to have one or two. Or three. You know, for science.”

Hunk laughed. “Oh, of course.”

He knew that the Keith discussion wasn’t over—not by a long shot—but for now, he eagerly welcomed the distraction his best friend provided.

Meanwhile, the song that started all this continued to play in the background. “ _I know you don't love me, but still I burn for you. I know you don't love me, this flame won't die, it's true. My soul bared completely don't seem enough for you. I know you don't love me, but the message can’t get through._ ”

* * *

It was weird, knowing that it wasn’t just the six of them in the Castle anymore. Sure, Lotor wasn’t going anywhere any time soon in that cell of his, but the fact that they had a _Galra_ on board, and Zarkon’s _son_ to boot, was something that Hunk was still trying to wrap his head around.

He was glad that Allura and Shiro had taken on the responsibility of dealing directly with Lotor. Something about him made Hunk’s figurative hackles rise and his monkey brain scream “predator!”

But he had to admit that there were some upsides to having access to insider Galra information. To Hunk, it felt like they had finally been given a break after running a marathon for months.

That meant they now had more downtime for themselves, to temporarily forget about Voltron and the thousands-year old war they hadn’t even willingly signed up for, and just be themselves.

Well, that was how Hunk was spending his time, at least. He knew that Lance, to his surprise, had been putting some extra hours on the training deck when he wasn’t in the pool or playing his and Pidge’s video game. Pidge didn’t seem to understand what the word ‘downtime’ even meant and spent nearly every waking moment combing through the rapidly growing Coalition database for clues about her dad.

Allura and Shiro, of course, had their hands full with Lotor, coordinating their efforts with the Coalition, and just...being leaderly. Hunk wasn’t exactly sure what Coran was doing but he knew that it had something to do with the Castle’s maintenance, because every time he saw him, the older man seemed to always have his tablet and some kind of Altean tool with him.

And Keith? Well, Hunk assumed that he was usually on a Blade mission of some sort. Did the Blade even take breaks? He hoped that Keith was at least taking care of himself, even though he had a feeling that it wasn’t the case.

As for Hunk, he normally spent his time either in the kitchen or in Yellow’s hangar to work on whatever engineering project had caught his eye that day.

But tonight, he was in neither of those places. Instead, he was going at it against a punching bag on the training deck.

It was one of those nights where the anxiety voices in his head were louder than the rational ones. He knew from experience that he wouldn’t be able to sleep unless he somehow worked all that energy off.

So, the training deck it was. 

Half an hour into his session, he heard a familiar low chuckle that sent what felt like a thousand volts down his spine, making him shiver. “Didn’t expect to see you down here,” came Keith’s voice.

Hunk paused and turned around to find Keith leaning against the doorway, still in his Blade uniform, and smirking at him. Hunk felt naked in comparison in his ratty old tank top and a pair of loose shorts he found in the marketplace of one of the planets they recently freed.

He licked his lips, watched as Keith’s eyes narrowed at the action, and felt the temperature in the room go up.

Or maybe it was just him.

He tried to shrug nonchalantly. “Yeah, I come down here sometimes when I can’t sleep.”

“Not the kitchen?”

“Cooking isn’t all I do, you know,” said Hunk, puffing his chest out. “I’m a man of many talents.”

Keith chuckled again and the deep rumble in his voice made something in Hunk’s chest flutter. “Yeah, you really are.” This time, Hunk _knew_ that the heat he could feel crawling through his body was _not_ coming from the room.

Keith pushed off the doorway and began walking towards him. “Do you need a sparring partner?”

Hunk blushed. “Um, sure, if you don’t mind.”

He let out an embarrassingly high-pitched squeak when Keith started stretching, seemingly unaware or uncaring of the effect that he was having on Hunk right now. Which, _rude_.

When he was done, he turned back to Hunk and dropped into a loose defensive stance. “Ready?”

 _Nope, not at all_. Hunk nodded and mirrored him.

Keith struck quickly, as fast as Red and just as vicious, but Hunk didn’t win three wrestling championships in a row when he was in high school for nothing. He had a considerable size and weight advantage against Keith, and he used it shamelessly.

Keith knew this, too, and focused on his speed and agility instead.

Their spar must have lasted for only a few minutes but Hunk eventually saw the opening he needed and plowed straight into Keith’s waist, surprising him enough to pin him to the floor. “Aha, looks like I win!” Hunk crowed.

Keith exhaled, blowing his fringe out of his eyes. “Looks like it, big guy.” He grinned playfully up at Hunk and rolled his head to the side, deliberately exposing his long pale neck. His pupils, now that Hunk was close enough to see them more clearly, were blown so wide that his eyes were almost completely black. “A win like that deserves a prize,” he purred.

Hunk suddenly remembered, very vividly, the last time he and Keith were in almost this exact position. And it was on the goddamn training deck, too.

A few days after Naxzela, Matt had quietly approached the team to tell them about Keith’s aborted suicide attempt. When they all confronted Keith about it, there was a lot of yelling and crying, and it ended with Keith storming off to the training deck.

Hunk had followed after him. He couldn’t remember ever being that furious and _terrified_ in his life, and he needed Keith to _know_ that. To understand that the very idea of Keith sacrificing himself for them was utterly unacceptable. There was more yelling and crying but, when Keith tried to leave, Hunk had stopped him with a hand on his arm. Some kind of a switch seemed to flip on within the shorter boy then, because he immediately tried to retaliate by punching Hunk.

The next few moments after that blurred together in a hazy mosaic but the fight somehow ended with Hunk on top of Keith, pinning the other boy to the floor by his shoulders while Keith’s hands held his wrists in a tight grip. They stared at each other for a few seconds, both of them panting and mixing their breaths together.

Hunk didn’t remember who moved first but the next thing he knew, Keith had flipped him over so their positions were reversed, and they were kissing. Then shedding their clothes. Then bringing each other off. And then lying side by side on the training deck’s cold hard floor, naked, and panting up at the ceiling.

Eventually, Keith had turned to Hunk and hesitantly asked, “Do you—uh, want to do this again sometime? It doesn’t have to mean anything.”

And there was no way Hunk could say ‘no’ to that, no matter how much his brain had screamed at him that it was a Bad Idea.

Now, as Hunk looked down at Keith, who was giving him the same considering look he had given Hunk just before tackling him to the ground that night, he could hear his brain distantly screaming the same thing at him again.

And he found himself ignoring it once again. “Uh, what kind of prize?” he asked dumbly.

Keith shifted so he could grind their hips together, smirking in satisfaction when Hunk’s breath hitched at the friction against his groin. Keith wrapped his legs around Hunk’s waist and pulled him down until they were nose to nose. “I could think of a few things,” he said huskily.

* * *

“ _And We Were Roommates, this is Eagle One. Yes Daddy Yes, Eagle Two, and I are in position._ ”

Hunk had to bite his lip to keep from laughing at the long-suffering sigh that followed. “ _Lance, I told you this joke wasn’t funny the first time and it’s still not funny now,_ ” said Shiro.

Pidge snickered. “ _You’re just jealous that you didn’t get to be called Eagle Two._ ” Hunk noticed she’s been laughing a lot more ever since they rescued her father and left him in the care of the Olkari. There was something about her that was lighter now, like she was no longer bogged down by the weight of the whole world on her shoulders.

“ _I still don’t understand the significance of these code names,_ ” Allura, on whom Lance had bestowed the name _I Won’t Hesitate Bitch_ , chimed in.

“They’re all based on Earth memes and vines,” Hunk explained, taking pity on her.

“ _I have some on my laptop,_ ” Pidge said brightly. “ _We can watch them after the mission._ ”

“ _I look forward to it,_ ” said Allura. “ _By the way, does Keith have a name as well?_ ”

“ _Stinky Bastard Man,_ ” Lance replied, far too readily for him to have come up with it on the spot.

Hunk, Pidge, and Allura burst into giggles while Keith, who had been silent up until now, let out a sigh that sounded identical to Shiro’s. “ _Really, Lance?_ ”

“ _I had no idea that the Paladins of Voltron could be so talkative during a mission,_ ” Lotor’s voice cut in, immediately sobering the atmosphere.

 _Right, Lotor’s officially on our side now_ , thought Hunk. He could still barely believe that Lotor had killed his own father, much less the fact that Zarkon was finally dead—and he had even been there when it happened!

“ _Lotor’s right. Less memes and more focus on the mission, please,_ ” said Shiro. His tone was nonchalant but none of them were dumb enough to think that meant he wasn’t absolutely serious.

Hunk gulped. He rarely got nauseous on missions nowadays but it looked like that was about to change as he thought about his impending task.

The planet they were going to be liberating today was called Atmos, which was really more of an outpost mainly inhabited by mercenaries than an actual colony. It was made up of floating islands and the entire surface was covered in water, a never ending ocean.

Hunk was supposed to fly in with Yellow first to distract the Galra fleet currently hovering above the planet. Pidge, Lance, and Shiro were to follow behind in Green to infiltrate the main ship. Once Pidge finished hacking into and shutting down the system, Hunk would then rendezvous with the Blades on Atmos to help them (and the mercenary factions they had apparently allied themselves with) take down the Galra’s ground forces.

According to Kolivan, the mercenaries didn’t care one whit about Voltron or the Coalition, but they sure hated the Galra more. “Once we run the Galra off the planet, we will not only be able to move through this sector more freely, but we will also have liberated just over a third of planets under the Empire’s rule,” Kolivan had declared confidently.

When Hunk had wondered aloud why _he_ had been chosen to go down to the planet instead of Allura, considering Blue’s water capabilities, Shiro explained that Allura was still “too inexperienced” and they needed Yellow’s bulk and strength more. Allura didn’t protest but Hunk caught her chewing on her lip and clenching her fists, reminding him of a firecracker that was about to blow. She seemed to calm down a little when Lance gently squeezed her shoulder and whispered something in her ear, though.

Hunk almost argued back but Shiro had the most amount of military expertise out of all of them, and he couldn’t actually find any particular fault with the plan, so he let it go.

He cleared his throat. “Okay. I’m in position, too. Ready to go whenever you guys are.”

“ _The Blade is ready, too, Shiro._ ” Keith’s voice went soft around Shiro’s name, curling around it like a warm blanket.

Hunk tasted sour grapes on his tongue as a miniature storm began swirling in the pit of his stomach. He knew what it was but he refused to name it—maybe it would make it less real. And maybe one day he would figure out how to turn his feelings off altogether. _Get it together, Hunk, you’re on a mission._

“ _Good. Go ahead, Hunk, we’re right behind you,_ ” said Shiro.

Hunk exhaled. “Okay, boy, let’s do this,” he whispered to Yellow, who purred soothingly in response.

They burst out of the asteroid they had been hiding behind with a roar, alerting the nearby Galra fleet of their presence. But even as fighters began pouring out of the ships like ants—incredibly annoying fire ants that had evolved wings, that is—Yellow was already tearing a hole through the nearest ship.

Yellow wasn’t as fast as Red or as graceful as Green and Blue, but he more than made up for that with his armour and bite. Despite his own nervousness, Hunk quickly fell into the by now familiar rhythm of battle. He didn’t bother with bobbing and weaving like Lance, Pidge, and Allura usually did. Instead, he dove headfirst like a rock skipping across water, focusing on taking out as many fighters in his path as he could.

He couldn’t see Green behind him, thanks to Pidge’s cloaking, but Yellow’s sensors easily picked her up through the destruction left in his wake as clear as day. Allura was hanging back for now ~~until~~ unless something went wrong so Blue could serve as backup where needed.

Hunk continued firing at the fleet with abandon for a few more minutes until he heard Pidge cackle over the comms, “ _Aaand it’s nap time!_ ” One by one, the fighters tailing Hunk lost power and until they hung suspended all around him like Christmas tree decorations.

“ _Good job, Pidge,_ ” praised Shiro. “ _Hunk, you’re clear to go._ ”

“Got it.” Hunk surged down towards the planet, following the coordinates that the Blades had sent him earlier. Taking care to avoid getting spotted by the ground troops, he flew in low, utilizing the floating islands as cover, until he reached the island where the main Galra base was located. He landed among the heavy foliage about two hundred yards away from it.

A handful of Blades and their new temporary mercenary allies were waiting for him when he stepped out of Yellow’s mouth. “Hey,” he greeted, giving a small awkward wave, chuckling nervously when no one responded. Despite his experience in running missions with the Blades, he still didn’t really have a good grasp on how to act around them. Lance, the social butterfly that he was, had no problem ingratiating himself with Kolivan and the Blades.

The mercenaries didn’t look very impressed, either. In fact, Hunk could swear that some of them were looking at him like he was a piece of meat.

To Hunk’s relief, a short, familiar Blade stepped forward. “Hey,” said Keith. “How did it go?”

Hunk gave him a thumbs up. “Without a hitch. Their system’s down so we can pretty much go at any time. What about you guys?”

A much, much taller Blade joined Keith, towering over both of them. “We’ve secured the perimeter. No one will be getting in and out of that base without our knowledge,” he said. Hunk now recognized the deep voice as Kolivan and felt his shoulders relax. The Galran still cut an intimidating figure but he was at least familiar.

Kolivan gestured to one of the mercenaries, a lean green-skinned reptilian alien with long black hair that fell just beneath his shoulder. He was holding a device that looked like it was being held together by duct tape and prayers. “We will be jamming their communications just as a precaution. I expect that reinforcements will eventually arrive, but it will be too late by then.”

The alien scowled at Kolivan. “This plan of yours better work, _Blade_. Otherwise, you’ve doomed us all.”

Kolivan didn’t even twitch. “It will,” he swore.

Hunk nodded and pressed the tips of his fingers to the microphone button on his helmet. “Did you guys get that?”

“ _We copy,_ ” said Shiro. “ _We’re a little ahead of schedule, but you and Keith should get started on taking the base down. Once Lance has found all the prisoners and Pidge is done with the data extraction, we’ll_ _give you some support_ _._ ”

“Got it.” Keith turned to Hunk and gave him a decisive nod. “Ready?”

Hunk gripped his bayard and summoned its gun form. “Let’s do this.”

The thing about Galra bases was they all seemed to share the same blueprints. A ‘you’ve been in one, you’ve been in all of them’ kind of thing.

It didn’t take them long to storm the Galra’s barricades and secure the base. “Huh, so far, so good,” Keith commented. He and Hunk were standing watch just outside of the control room as Kolivan barked orders at the Blades around them. The mercenaries had also spread out and were mostly looting the place.

Hunk shuddered. “Ugh, don’t say that! Haven’t you ever seen a movie? The minute someone says that is when the shit hits the fan!”

But Keith just laughed and Hunk, in spite of himself, found the sound soothing. It wasn’t easy to get Keith to laugh and, lately, getting him to even smile was an achievement in and of itself. So, to hear it now, especially after everything they’ve all been through, was a victory that Hunk happily committed to memory.

Good memories have been hard to come by recently, he felt.

The next few minutes passed by relatively peacefully—or as peacefully as they could be when they were still technically in enemy territory.

“How is everything up there?” Hunk asked into the comms.

“ _I just found the last of the prisoners, so we’re heading back to Green now,_ ” Lance replied.

“ _And I’m almost finished over here, too,_ ” said Pidge. “ _Man, we might not even need to go planetside at this rate._ ”

“Aw, come on,” Hunk protested, but only half-heartedly. Pidge had a point; they really were a well-oiled machine.

Months ago, he would never have imagined that their ragtag group—composed of a veteran who was too young to be so, four Garrison cadets, an alien princess, and their weird alien uncle figure—could get this far, but here they were.

“ _Great job, team,_ ” Shiro encouraged. “ _Hunk, Keith, what’s your ETA?_ ”

“We’re almost done here, Shiro,” said Keith. “We’re just finishing up with downloading the base’s records—”

“ _Wait,_ ” Allura cut in. “ _What is_ that _?_ ”

Hunk and Keith exchanged raised brows, confused, but tightened their grips on their bayard and knife, respectively. ‘That’ could mean any number of things, ranging from an enemy ship or, as Hunk had quickly learned during his time in space, something much worse.

It was Lotor, of all people, who cursed. “ _That is a Druid ship! Allura, you need to get out of there_ now _!_ ”

Hunk had barely processed what Lotor said before explosions erupted all around them. He hurried to the closest window with Keith at his heels, and gasped as Galra fighters began streaming down the planet in waves after waves, like a swarm of black Mayflies.

Kolivan whirled around to glare at the alien with the signal jammer. “I thought you said your device would work!”

The alien snarled back, “It _does_! One of your people must have tripped a system alarm.” He whistled and all the nearby mercenaries instantly dropped everything they were doing. “Now, you can either leave or stay and fix _your_ bloody mess.” With that, he and the mercenaries scattered.

“We will provide whatever assistance we can, but we will need the Lions,” said Kolivan. All around them, the Blades were also scattering.

“ _I’m on my way,_ ” Allura grunted. “ _I just need to—argh!—get through this quiznaking blockade first!_ ”

“ _Hold on, Allura. I’m going to drop Shiro and Lance back off at the Castle and then I’ll come to you,_ ” Pidge called out, her voice becoming staticky.

“ _Hunk, get to Yellow so you can help the Blades. We’ll be there as soon as we can,_ ” Shiro ordered, his voice reassuringly calm in the middle of all the confusion. " _Keith, stay with him._ ”

“Yes, sir!”

They rushed out of the base as quickly as they could. Outside, the explosions sounded a hundred times louder even though they were still, at Hunk’s estimate, at least thirty miles out. But they were steadily moving closer.

The base was located at the peak of the highest mountain on this island. From this vantage point, Hunk saw smoke rising from several of the islands in the distance. Tiny ships began to pour out of them but, with these many Galra fighters, there was nowhere to go. That realization was all the motivation Hunk needed to quicken his steps. He knew, from the sound of the other boy’s steps hitting the ground in a steady pace, that Keith was not far behind.

They rounded a bend in the path and Hunk could already spot Yellow’s telltale golden armour peeking out from the foliage. _Almost there_ , he thought. His shoulders started to sag with relief.

An agonized scream tore through the air, stopping Hunk’s heart. It was the most terrifying sound he had ever heard in his life.

And it was coming from behind him.

_Keith!_

Hunk stopped running and whirled around on his heel, gasping when he found Keith lying prone on the ground with a whip wrapped around his body, mask gone. Hunk followed the line of the whip to its source, and felt something cold and heavy drop into the pit of his stomach when he met the smug gaze of a reptilian alien, whom he vaguely recognized as one of the mercenaries that had been a part of their group. He was much, much bigger than the green one who had been arguing with Kolivan earlier, though.

The alien tugged on the whip and it crackled with electricity. Keith let out another pained, guttural scream that seared into Hunk’s soul.

“Stop it!” he cried

The alien obeyed but the expression on his face reminded Hunk of the one his cat once made when he came back from school once to find his fish tank empty. Keith stopped spasming and his body became motionless once again. But, to Hunk’s endless relief, he was still breathing.

“Oops,” the alien mocked. “ _So_ sorry about that. My whips haven’t been working right ever since my little run-in with your colleague and that brother of his,” he spat.

“ _Fuck, I recognize that voice,_ ” Pidge hissed. The connection on the comms was getting weaker. “ _It’s the bounty hunter Matt and I fought._ ”

“W-What do you want?” Hunk stammered. Although a voice at the back of his head was still screaming that there were people out there who needed his help _right now_ , a much louder voice was screaming that Keith was in _danger_.

He couldn’t just abandon his friend. But, more than that, it was _Keith_.

The bounty hunter smirked and the sight sent cold sweat down the back of Hunk’s neck. He got the feeling that he had just walked into the spider’s parlour and he couldn’t see any way out. He was distantly aware of the sounds of explosions growing closer and closer.

“Funny story about that,” the bounty hunter replied, like he was getting ready to settle into a long rant about the weather. “I only came back to this miserable floating rock because I heard there was going to be a raid on the Galra. Now, Galra, non-Galra—they’re all the same to me. But _then_ I heard that the Blade of Marmora was going to be here, too _._ ”

Keith groaned and tried to push himself up but the bounty hunter gave him a swift kick to the side. Keith flipped over onto his back with a cry, which transformed into a gasp when the bounty hunter planted a foot over his chest, trapping him there. “Oh, shut up. Don’t you know it’s rude to interrupt a conversation?”

Either Keith didn’t hear him or didn’t care, because his eyes locked onto Hunk and he rasped, “H-Hunk...just...g-go—”

Keith cried out again when the foot on top of him pressed down harder, cutting off his breathing.

“Please, just stop!” Hunk choked. He could feel tears running down his cheeks now but didn’t care. Keith was in danger and _there was nothing he could do about it._

He took a hesitant step forward but froze when the bounty hunter whipped his head at him, a viper ready to strike, and pointed his other whip at him.

“I’m not done yet,” he growled. “So, like I said, once I found out that the Blade was going to be here...well, I couldn’t resist. You see, the Galra have become _very_ interested in the Blade recently. And when they’re interested, they pay _extremely_ handsomely.” The bounty hunter’s smirk widened and Hunk felt the web squeezing more tightly around him. “But imagine my surprise when I realized that a Paladin of Voltron was here, too! Now, I couldn’t give less of a damn about those Lions of yours, but what I _do_ care about is that pretty bounty on your head.”

Someone gasped into the comms but Hunk could barely hear it over the nearing explosions and the louder beating of his heart against his rib cage. “A-And?” Hunk asked, even though he already suspected he knew where this was going. _He must have been the one to trigger the alarm._

“How about I make you a deal?” The bounty hunter gestured between him and Keith. “You for him.”

People started screaming in the comms but their voices all dissolved into white noise as the bounty hunter’s words rang in Hunk’s mind. _You for him._ “What?” he asked shakily. _He can’t mean…_

The bounty hunter sighed, “As much as I would have _loved_ to collect on both of your rewards, I’ve learned my lesson. You’re far more valuable than a hundred of these Blades—dead _or_ alive. It’s just good business sense.”

“ _Stall him, Hunk,_ ” Shiro ordered. “ _We’re almost there—argh!_ ” There was a deafening ‘ _bang!_ ’ in the background and Hunk sucked in a breath.

“ _Hang on, Shiro!_ ” Lance shouted, but he sounded winded, like he’d just taken a heavy hit to the side.

Explosions continued to echo around them, both from Hunk’s helmet and on the planet. Hunk swallowed. “So, you’ll let him go...” he said slowly, “...in exchange for me? 

Keith flinched and tipped his head back to look at Hunk, eyes wide. “D-Don’t…” he began to say, but was once again cut off as the bounty hunter put more pressure on his chest.

The bounty hunter chuckled. “That’s right. I’d say that’s a reasonable exchange, wouldn’t you?”

“ _Don’t do it, Hunk!_ ” Allura cried. More explosions rang through the comms, followed by more screams.

Then, horrible dead silence.

Hunk gulped. Somehow, their connection was cut. That meant that he was all alone now.

“Decide quickly, Yellow Paladin,” the alien sneered. “I could always take my chances and kill him, _then_ go after you.” He raised his other whip and it crackled threateningly. “Either way, I am _not_ walking out of here empty-handed.”

Hunk knew, in that moment, that the team wasn’t going to get to them in time.

His eyes darted to Keith. There was an ugly bleeding gash on his forehead from where he had hit his head after falling to the ground, and his face was covered in dirt and bruises.

He knew what he had to do, had probably known it ever since the very first time he kissed this brave, broken, beautiful boy. It felt like a lifetime ago.

Hunk squared his shoulders and exhaled. Keith caught the motion and his eyes widened in realization. “Wait, Hunk—”

“Get him into my Lion first. A-And then I’ll go with you.”

Hunk could feel Yellow roar in alarm at the back of his mind but he steadfastly kept his back to his Lion.

The bounty hunter smiled triumphantly. “Deal.” He took his foot off of Keith but kept the whip around him as he pulled him up by the hood. “D’you hear that, runt? Today’s your lucky day.”

Keith never took his eyes off Hunk and began shaking his head rapidly. “No, Hunk, you can’t—”

The bounty hunter cut him off with a rough shake as he crossed the space between himself and Hunk in a couple of easy strides.

Hunk closed his eyes and _willed_ Yellow to open his mouth. He wasn’t surprised when he was met with resistance but poured as much love and reassurance into the bond as he could. _It’s okay, it’s okay_ , he thought. _I’ll be alright, but we gotta protect Keith right now, okay?_

His Lion wailed pitifully but reluctantly opened his mouth, leaving just enough space for a body to slip through.

The bounty hunter seemed to at least have enough sense to know not to mess with the Lion because he simply dropped Keith into Yellow’s jaw before taking a wide, deliberate step backwards.

Keith rolled onto his front with a gasp and stretched his arm out, “Hunk—”

“I-It’s gonna be okay, Keith.” Hunk forced himself to smile, even as he felt fear tighten around his neck like a noose. “I promise.

_Go. Now!_

Yellow snapped his jaw shut and took off. Although Yellow didn’t communicate in words, Hunk could understand his Lion’s thoughts as they reverberated in his head, loud and clear: _Be strong, little one, I will come back for you soon._

Hunk watched his Lion disappear into the sky. He was scared, yes, but there was a part of him that felt at peace, too. Keith was safe and that was what mattered.

“So,” drawled the bounty hunter. “I held up my end of the bargain—are you going to come quietly or what?”

Hunk wordlessly withdrew his bayard and summoned its gun form.

The bounty hunter didn’t even look surprised and something about that sent chills down Hunk’s spine. “Ah, I’ll take that as a ‘no’, then.”

Before Hunk had even pulled the trigger, the bounty hunter _moved_. He was much faster than Hunk would have expected someone of that size to be, and all of Hunk’s shots went wide.

And the alien only drew closer and closer until his whips were within striking distance.

Hunk tried to dodge but knew he’d failed when he felt one of the whips wrap around his ankle, bringing him down to the ground. Then, all he could feel was _fire._

His body _burned_. The pain was nothing like he had ever felt before—it felt like hundreds of claws were tearing into his flesh at the same time while every nerve ending in his body ruptured. A scream forced its way up his throat and out of his mouth.

He didn’t know how long this torture went on but the last thing he heard before blacking out was the agonized roar of his Lion in the back of his mind.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “It’s all your fault!” Lance screamed. By now, Kolivan had one arm wrapped securely around him but it did nothing to stop him from trying to claw Keith’s face off.
> 
> “I know,” Keith said quietly. Shiro finally reached his side and placed his hand on his shoulder.
> 
> “Lance, calm down—”
> 
> But Lance wasn’t done yet. “Hunk only gave himself up because he loves you!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for all the feedback last chapter, everyone! I really appreciate it!
> 
> Like I said, I'll work on sticking to a Monday schedule for this fic, and I hope you enjoy!

Lance breathed a sigh of relief when he caught a glimpse of Yellow breaking the atmosphere and heading back to the Castle. Good, it meant that Hunk and Keith were safe for now.

He quickly put them out of his mind when the rest of the fleet converged on them. They were relentless—Lance could barely move without having at least a dozen fighters on his tail, blocking him from his team and vice versa. Yet, despite the chaos, he had to concede that it was a good strategy; even without Voltron, the Lions were still stronger when they were together. If Lance were on the Galra’s side, he would admit that keeping them apart was probably the best thing the Galra could do.

“ _I’m pinned down!_ ” Allura screamed.

The edges of Lance’s vision went blurry as his heart rate sped up. _No, not Allura._ “Hold on!” he screamed, steering Red in her direction.

He was almost on top of her location when all the fighters stopped firing and started heading back for the main ship. “ _What the quiznak just happened?_ ” Pidge gasped, sounding like she’d just finished running a relay.

Lance sympathized because he felt the same way. “It looks like they’re retreating.”

Once all the fighters were back on the ship, it warped away, leaving no evidence that it had ever been there in the first place.

“ _Shiro, we’ve retaken the planet Atmos,_ ” Kolivan’s voice crackled through the comms. “ _But there have been no signs of Keith and the Yellow Paladin since I last saw them. What happened?_ ”

“ _We’re not sure yet,_ ” Shiro admitted. “ _Keith, Hunk, where are you? Can you hear me?_ ”

Someone responded a few seconds later but it wasn’t either of them. “ _Paladins, you need to return to the Castle at once,_ " panted Coran. "It’s _the Yellow Lion—_ ”

“ _We saw it go back to the Castle. Are Hunk and Keith alright?_ ” Shiro pushed.

Coran gulped and shakily replied, “ _Yes, the Yellow Lion is back…_ ” A low groan echoed in the background. It didn’t sound like Hunk.

Lance sucked in a breath as he replayed Hunk’s last words in his head before their comms disconnected. _So you’ll let him go...in exchange for me?_

No, Hunk couldn’t have…

He knew how important he was to the team, he had to! And if not as a friend, then at least as a crucial part of Voltron.

“ _...but Hunk…_ ” Coran trailed off.

Lance had never pushed Red to go as fast as he did right now, overwhelmed by the fear choking him like smoke in his lungs. He was the first to arrive at Yellow’s hangar and was already dashing out of Red’s jaw before his Lion had properly docked. The others were not far behind.

Coran was standing just in front of Yellow, who laid crumpled to the floor much like Black had after their second battle with Zarkon. As Lance grew closer, he was hit with a wave of utter sadness that was not his own. _It’s coming from Red_ , he thought, confused.

 _No_ , he realized as he waded deeper into what he was feeling, _it’s coming from_ Yellow.

Now that he was less than a yard away, he could see that Coran was carrying a figure clad in dark purple in his arms— _Keith_.

“Where’s Hunk?” Lance demanded, voice hoarse. _Please don’t tell me he’s—_

The normally cheerful Altean looked shattered. “He-He wasn’t in the Lion,” he stammered. “It was just Keith.”

At that moment, Keith grunted and opened his eyes. Lance heard Allura let out a gasp from over his shoulder. Keith looked even worse than the time he came back from the Blade of Marmora trial looking like he lost a fight to a lawnmower. “We...have to...go back,” he whimpered.

Lance had never heard him sound this much in pain before and that, more than anything, was what scared him.

Because if Keith, easily one of the toughest people on their team, was this injured...then what had happened to Hunk?

“We-We can’t,” Pidge whispered.

Lance whipped around to stare at her. “Why not? Hunk should still have his helmet and armour on, which means we should be able to track him, right?” he shouted.

Tears were springing at the corners of Pidge’s eyes. “I haven’t been able to get a read on him since that ship disappeared but I-I thought it was just a side effect of our connection getting cut when I saw Yellow going back to the Castle,” she stuttered. “His signal must be out of range.”

Allura stumbled back. “That ship…” she trailed off. Her skin paled and she turned to Lance with a horrified expression on her face. “The bounty hunter must have gotten on the Druid’s ship.”

Lance’s heart stopped beating.

_The Galra have Hunk._

* * *

When Keith opened his eyes, he found himself standing in the Castle’s med bay. Behind him, the healing pod made a hissing sound as it sunk back into the floor. Coran was the only other person in the room.

“Coran?” Keith rasped. His mouth felt weird—dry and tingly.

“Shh, easy there, Keith,” said Coran, sounding uncharacteristically solemn. He gently steered Keith onto a stool and scanned him with a tablet, just to make sure the pod had done its job. Keith knew it wouldn’t find anything because he felt just fine, if a little tired and cold.

Then he remembered.

The feeling of being struck by a lightning bolt. The bounty hunter.

_Hunk._

Keith grabbed Coran’s wrist. “Where’s Hunk? What happened?”

Coran looked away and a heavy stone fell to the pit of Keith’s stomach.

“We don’t know where Hunk is right now,” Coran answered shakily. “Sh-Shortly after he sent you away in the Yellow Lion, the tracker in his helmet was disabled. The Blades observed a small ship they didn’t recognize leaving the planet and—and docking on the Druid’s ship.”

Keith’s eyes widened. _No…_

“It hyper jumped away before we could follow it,” Coran continued, taking a shuddering breath. “We don’t know where Hunk is right now.”

Static filled Keith’s ears as only one thought echoed in his head: _Hunk has been captured by the Galra, Hunk has been captured by the Galra,_ Hunk _has been captured by the_ Galra.

“That was a few vargas ago. The Princess and the others are on the bridge coordinating a rescue mission right now and—oi, Keith!”

Keith let go of Coran abruptly and strode out of the med bay, ignoring the Altean’s panicked shouts and uncaring of the fact that he was still wearing a thin white one-piece. He had already been out for far too long—he needed to be with his team.

He could already hear people talking as he turned the corridor that led to the bridge but, as soon as he stepped through the doors, silence descended upon the room as all eyes turned to him.

Kolivan, Shiro, and Allura were standing in the middle of the bridge, with Lotor just off to the side, observing them all with an analytical gaze.

A handful of Blades was standing just a few feet behind Kolivan while Lance and Pidge, still in their Paladin armour, were huddled around Pidge’s terminal, their gazes fixed on her screen.

Lance’s eyes narrowed and he straightened his spine, pointing a finger right at Keith. “You!”

Keith had never seen him this furious before.

Lance stalked up to Keith with an ugly snarl on his face. Despite his instincts urging him to bare his teeth in response, Keith simply braced himself for more yelling. _Lance has every right to be angry with me_ , he reminded himself, _I’m the reason Hunk is gone right now._

What he hadn’t been prepared for was Lance reeling his fist back and punching him square in the jaw, sending him whirling into the wall.

Voices started yelling and multiple pairs of feet began stampeding towards them but Keith held Lance’s gaze as he pushed himself back up to his feet. He could hear Red roaring somewhere in the back of his head. Their connection was even more muted now than when he was still piloting Black but her distress for her Paladins rang loud and clear. Keith determinedly kept his hands at his side, palms open. _I deserved that._

“It’s all your fault!” Lance screamed. By now, Kolivan had one arm wrapped securely around him but it did nothing to stop him from trying to claw Keith’s face off.

“I know,” Keith said quietly. Shiro finally reached his side and placed his hand on his shoulder.

“Lance, calm down—”

But Lance wasn’t done yet. “ _Hunk only gave himself up because he loves you!_ ”

Keith’s brain skidded to a sudden and complete halt, like a car crashing straight into a ten-feet thick brick wall. “I—What?”

The bridge was totally silent save for the constant hum of the Castle’s engines. Then Lance twisted the knife. “Don’t you _dare_ pretend you don’t know what I’m talking about, you little shit,” he spat. “You knew—you _knew_ he was in love with you but instead of leaving him alone, you took advantage of his feelings because, hey, at least _someone_ was willing to fuck you, even if it wasn’t Shiro, right?”

Shiro’s grip tightened on Keith’s shoulder but Keith didn’t dare turn around to see what his face looked like right now. Ice cold mortification, indignant fury, and, perhaps most damning of all, heavy guilt burned through him.

“I-I didn’t...” _...know?_ Maybe not, but at the same time, he couldn’t claim that he didn’t _not_ know. He had eyes. He saw the looks Hunk had been giving him for the past few months, maybe even as far back as the time they freed the Balmera. How he always seemed to end up with the biggest portions of food whenever Hunk was cooking.

How, whenever they were intimate, Hunk’s touches were always so, so gentle, like Keith was a precious stone that needed to be handled with care.

And now he was in the Galra’s hands and it was _all Keith’s fault._

“That’s enough, Lance.” Allura’s voice was feather-soft. “Please.”

It was the ‘please’ that seemed to snap Lance out of his fog of rage, but barely. He stilled, and Kolivan slowly released him and stepped away. Lance didn’t move for several heartbeats, pinning Keith where he stood with his gaze. There was nothing but anger, pure and deep as the sea, in his eyes.

Finally, he opened his mouth and the knife sank deeper. “If Hunk dies—if he dies thinking that he wasn’t good enough, I will _never_ forgive you.”

* * *

Hunk drifted. He knew, vaguely, that he was on a ship, could feel its engines hum beneath him. It wasn’t Yellow, though, because the metal floor he was lying on was cold and dead. Yellow didn’t feel like that—Hunk always felt warm and _loved_ whenever he was in his Lion.

Right now, he felt cold—cold, sore, and alone.

At one point, he woke up long enough to register that he was being carried somewhere. He opened his eyes a crack but all he could see was purple. He couldn’t remember how he knew this, but he knew that the purple was bad. Purple meant danger. And that meant he had to get out of here, _now_.

He tried to move his limbs but met resistance in the form of thick ropes bound tightly around his chest, arms, and legs. Dread began to fill his lungs, heavy and suffocating like sludge; he was trapped.

The lizard alien who captured him began to speak. “...Special delivery...payment.”

 _Right, Pidge said he was a bounty hunter_ , Hunk remembered deliriously.

A new voice responded. “...Yes...if you would follow my associate…” It was a deep, sibilant, and frigid voice. For some reason, it made Hunk think of cold dark caves. Places where not even the sun’s rays could penetrate.

The bounty hunter’s steps began to fade away. A few seconds later, they came to a sudden halt and he hissed. “What are you—”

A high-pitched screech, like a thousand birds shrieking all at once, filled the air and the bounty hunter screamed. He wasn’t just in pain—he was dying.

The screams and shrieking birds finally came to an end, followed by a dull thud. “Dispose of him,” the voice from earlier commanded.

The dread within Hunk grew heavier as he heard the bounty hunter’s body get dragged away. Then, there was nothing but silence.

It didn’t stay that way for long, though. Someone grasped Hunk’s chin and lifted his head. “I know you’re awake. Won’t you open your eyes for me?” the voice crooned right into Hunk’s ear.

Hunk swallowed and slowly forced his eyes open. He didn’t want to but something about the voice told him that he didn’t have a choice.

It was one of Haggar’s Druids. “Ah, there we are,” the Druid said, sounding triumphant. He briefly turned away to nod at one of the guards standing over his shoulder. “Take us out of here, Lieutenant.”

“But what about Atmos?”

“The planet is all but worthless. The _Voltron Coalition_ can have it if they desire it so much,” spat the Druid. He let go of Hunk and set his head back down on the ground, almost gently. “We have something that is of much greater value.” He raised his other hand, which held Hunk’s bayard in its dormant form, but was looking directly at Hunk as he said that.

Hunk couldn’t see his face but he had a feeling that the Druid was smiling.

Then, the Druid tapped a spindly finger to his forehead and it was the last thing Hunk saw before the darkness consumed him again.

* * *

Keith returned to the bridge a few minutes later, dressed this time, to find Lance absent and Allura glaring at Kolivan, arms crossed and teeth bared. “Our friend has been captured and you mean to tell me you would rather focus on the quiznaking _Kral Zera_ instead of doing something about it?” she growled, looking every inch a lioness.

“I sympathize, Your Majesty, I really do,” Kolivan said neutrally. It was only because Keith had been working with Kolivan for so long that he caught the way his eye—the scarred one—twitch. “But the Kral Zera will take place in only a matter of days and it is our best chance at taking down all the key players in the empire, and therefore the Empire itself, in one fell swoop.”

“Might I offer an alternative suggestion?” Lotor spoke up, startling everyone on the bridge. Frankly, Keith had almost forgotten about him. “Instead of attacking the Galra at the Kral Zera, I believe it is in our best interests if I made a bid for the throne.”

_What?_

Allura reeled back as if she had been struck, and even Kolivan, who Keith had never seen express any other kind of emotion except maybe irritation, looked taken aback. “What did you say?” Allura bellowed.

Lotor sighed, looking like a frustrated school teacher. “Please think about it, Princess,” he said. “With the Empire’s resources at my disposal, we would be able to find your Yellow Paladin much faster.” He cocked his head towards Pidge, who was still typing furiously at her terminal. “Because right now, you have no leads, and I guarantee you won’t be able to find one, not when a Druid is involved.”

“I will throw you back into that damn cell myself if you don’t shut up right now,” Pidge snarled. She didn’t look up once from her screen.

Keith moved closer to Pidge in a show of support. This was _Hunk_ they were talking about. Their friend, the boy who always had a smile and joke ready for anyone who needed it, the boy who never failed to make Keith laugh when he needed it.

The idea of giving up on Hunk—on abandoning him for even one second was unacceptable.

_Hunk only gave himself up because he loves you!_

Lance’s words lingered painfully in Keith’s ears, like open cuts dipped in salt water. For now, everyone else seemed to be content to ignore Lance’s outburst, but Keith didn’t have that luxury. Hunk may be the type of person who would risk his life for any of his friends, but Keith was the only one sharing Hunk’s bed and that meant something.

“And I’m inclined to help,” said Allura, narrowing her eyes at Lotor. “Even if Hunk’s life weren’t at stake, we can’t afford to go to the Kral Zera anyway. It is far too risky and we do not have the resources to take on that many Galra by ourselves.”

Keith glanced at Shiro, who had been oddly quiet throughout the exchange, in an effort to discern what the older man was thinking. He had a thoughtful look on his face but, most importantly, he was looking at Lotor like he was actually _considering_ his insane idea.

“Shiro? What do you think?” Keith prodded, half-afraid of the answer.

Everyone turned to Shiro. Allura may have been the leader of the Coalition, but Shiro was undeniably the face of it. No matter what, they needed his input.

Shiro’s eyes met Lotor’s and there was something calculating in his gaze. Keith swallowed, feeling hot coals fall to the pit of his stomach. “I think we should give Lotor’s idea a bit more thought. We can not only save Hunk, but also use this as an opportunity to give the Coalition the boon it needs to finally end this war.”

_No…_

Pidge stopped typing and slowly raised her head, face paling in horror. She turned to Keith and shot him a desperate look that broke Keith’s heart. Some part of the Lion bond must have clung to Keith, because he could almost hear her voice in his head screaming, _Do something!_

“Shiro, you can’t mean that,” said Keith, taking a hesitant forward. He froze when Shiro pinned his heavy gaze on him. There were a thousand different ways Shiro had looked at him in the years Keith had known him—in amusement, exasperation, fondness, and even anger once or twice, but this was new.

He was looking at Keith like he was a stranger and it made Keith want to cry. “It’s a perfectly logical plan,” Shiro said calmly.

“That doesn’t make it right!” Allura protested, joining Keith and Pidge. She was close enough that Keith could feel her body vibrating in rage.

“If that is your plan, then I will not stop you,” Kolivan interrupted, drawing everyone’s attention back to him. “But the Blade _will_ go to the Kral Zera and we _will_ attack. Afterwards, we will assist you in retrieving your Yellow Paladin, I promise.”

There wasn’t any malice in what Kolivan was suggesting—this was, after all, what the Blade had been working towards for over ten thousand years. They had to look at the big picture.

At least, that was what Keith was trying to tell himself, even though he could hear Red and Black rumble in his head that he needed to save Hunk _now_. Hunk was part of their pride, one of their own— _family_.

And family did not leave each other behind.

Allura looked like there was a war going on inside her heart. As Blue’s Paladin, she must have felt the same things that Keith did, but as _Princess Allura_ , she had something far heavier than family resting on her shoulders.

Keith knew what her decision was when she exhaled and raised her head. Her lips had thinned to a harsh line but her eyes were soft and bright. “Very well, we’ll stay out of your way,” she told Kolivan. She turned to Shiro and Lotor, eyes hardened. “But I cannot allow you to go to the Kral Zera. It is too dangerous and not worth the risk. We _will_ devote all our efforts into bringing Hunk back. Do I make myself clear?”

Shiro closed his eyes. However, when he opened them again, there was nothing warm in them. “I’m sorry to hear that,” he said tonelessly. He left the bridge with Lotor at his heels and didn’t look back. Keith felt the coals in his stomach burn hotter.

“Keith, you’re coming with us,” said Kolivan. “If you have no more business here, then we must begin preparations for the Kral Zera immediately.”

Keith whipped his head up and stared incredulously at him. “What? No, Kolivan, I need to stay and help!”

_Hunk needs me. It’s my fault and I need to make this right._

“Your skillset will be invaluable on this mission,” Kolivan continued. “The sooner we can complete it, the sooner you’ll be able to return to search for the Yellow Paladin.”

Kolivan was right. Unless he could somehow pilot Yellow (and he had a feeling he wouldn’t be able to), he was going to be all but useless to his team.

 _Well, this was what you wanted_ , Keith thought bitterly to himself. To leave the team so he could actually do good elsewhere.

(And, regardless of what his conscience insisted, it wasn’t because he was used to people leaving him and he wanted to be the first leave for once. It _wasn’t_.)

“We need the rest of our team now, more than ever,” said Allura quietly, but she sounded drained.

Keith turned around to meet her and Pidge's eyes. There was something desperate in them that Keith had never been the recipient of before. He’d seen it enough times on other people’s faces, though. Pops’, whenever he caught Keith playing with his knife. Adam—Professor Wilder’s, the night before the Kerberos launch, staring forlornly as Shiro cleared his things out of their shared apartment.

His own reflection, after Shiro told him that nothing on Earth would stop him from going up into space one last time.

 _They want me to stay_ , Keith realized, somewhat awed.

But there was also something uncertain in their gaze, too, like they weren’t sure if he even wanted to stay.

(But he did. He _always_ did.)

He made up his mind.

He turned back to Kolivan and squared his shoulders. “I’m staying,” he said firmly. “My team needs me right now. You can find another Blade for your mission.”

It was worth it for, if nothing else, the smiles that bloomed on the girls’ faces. It had been a long time since he had seen them, _any_ of them, smile like that, and the thought was like a stab to the gut.

Kolivan raised an eyebrow but, after a few tense heartbeats, nodded. “Very well. You do what you must and we’ll do what we must.”

* * *

Keith found Lance on the training deck. That wasn’t surprising. He knew, from...from what Hunk had mentioned offhandedly to him once, that Lance had been spending more time on the training deck ever since Shiro‘s disappearance.

What _was_ surprising was the red sword he was now wielding in his hands, striking down the training drones with far more skill than Keith thought he possessed.

But his streak came to an end when one of the drones got past his guard and zapped him on the shoulder, causing him to drop his sword with a hiss. He finally spotted Keith and huffed, “End training sequence.”

As the drones disappeared back into the ceiling, Keith cautiously made his way towards Lance. His jaw was still aching from earlier and he was suddenly very aware of the fact that Lance’s bayard could now turn into three different weapons. “I didn’t know your bayard could turn into a sword,” he said, at a loss for what else to say.

“A lot of things happened while you were gone,” Lance told him snidely.

Keith flinched. _You could stay_ , Hunk had told him multiple times.

Well, he supposed he did stay in the end.

Lance sighed and looked away with something that may have been guilt in his eyes. He looked a lot older than he really was, almost like an adult.

Then again, none of them have felt like teenagers in a long time. “Sorry, I didn’t mean that.”

“Yes, you did,” said Keith, but not unkindly. He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, just for something to do. “I guess there were a lot of things I missed while I was with the Blade.” He dropped his arm and looked up to meet Lance’s eyes. “But I’m here now and I’m not leaving until we find Hunk.”

Lance cocked his head almost challengingly. “Alright,” he said. “So, what are you here for? Did you need the deck or something?”

Keith swallowed and shook his head. “No, I just...uh, wanted to let you know that I’m staying.” It was suddenly important to him that Lance and the others knew that, knew that they could count on Keith the way he knew he could count on them. They weren’t the perfect team—far from it, in fact—but they were _his_ , and that was what mattered.

He just hoped that they felt the same way about him. “And I wanted to apologize...for Hunk,” he added, ducking his head and shuffling his feet.

“It’s not _me_ you should be apologizing to,” said Lance.

Keith swallowed and nodded. There were a lot of things he needed to tell Hunk.

_I’m sorry, sorry for taking advantage of you like that, sorry that I even got caught by that damn bounty hunter in the first place, sorry that I tricked you into thinking I was someone worth that sacrifice._

I’m sorry.

“Hey,” Lance piped up. “You know we’re gonna find him soon, right?”

There was a storm in his voice and a bit of Red’s fire in his eyes when he said that.

Keith nodded. “Yeah, I know.”

Lance picked his bayard back up and summoned it to its sword form. “Good, now make yourself useful and spar with me.”

Keith smirked and unsheathed his knife. “You’re on.”

They _were_ going to find Hunk.

And nothing in this universe or the next was going to stop them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me, trying to wrangle with Keith's characterization in this chapter: I'm trying to give you a boyfriend and this is the thanks I get!!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “That boy with the purple eyes— _Galra_ eyes—he was the Red Paladin, wasn’t he?”
> 
> Hunk’s gut twisted. _Why was he singling Keith out?_
> 
> “You’re quite fond of him, aren’t you?”
> 
>  _No, I’m not_ , Hunk thought fiercely. But the tears prickling at the corners of his eyes belied what he told himself.
> 
> It was the truth and they both knew it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> alskdjfls I'm so sorry for the slight delay! I actually had most of the chapter written but had to add an extra scene at the last minute. The next chapter is done as well, so should be posted next Monday as usual.
> 
>  **Possible content warning for this chapter:** brief description of vomiting. If that's something you want to avoid, skip the paragraph between "This? Hunk felt like an intruder..." and "W-What did you just do to me?"
> 
> With that, I hope you enjoy!

The first thing Hunk realized when he next woke up was that he was no longer bound. He was also down to his black under suit, his armour and bayard nowhere in sight. He groaned and sat up. His entire body felt sore and he had a mild headache, but other than that, he couldn’t detect any other injuries.

“H-Hello? Lance? Coran? What's going on?” he called out uneasily. There were still parts of the Castle he hadn’t explored yet, but the room he was currently in looked very different from the rest of the ship’s general aesthetic. Where was he?

Then, he remembered. The mission, the bounty hunter— _Keith_.

_Was Keith okay? Did he and Yellow get out?_

Panic rose in him like a volcano about to erupt but Hunk forced himself to swallow it down. He’d just been captured by the Galra—he couldn’t freak out now.

He jolted to his feet when the door beeped before sliding open to reveal the Druid from earlier with two sentries flanking him.

He was still wearing that damn mask and Hunk just _knew_ that he was smiling once again. “ _What’s going on_ is you’re now a guest on my ship, little lion cub.”

Hunk bristled. “A guest, huh? Don’t guests usually get their own bedrooms instead of a utility closet?” He tried to channel some of Lance’s confidence into his words but couldn’t stop his voice from shaking.

He didn’t feel very confident or brave right now, but he was a Paladin. He couldn’t let the Galra know how weak he really was—for Allura and everyone else’s sake.

The Druid chuckled, “So, the little lion cub can roar.” In the blink of an eye, he had his hand wrapped around Hunk’s throat and was pinning him to the wall. Hunk choked out a cry as his head banged against the hard metal. He scrabbled at the Druid’s arm and kicked his legs out but the Druid looked like he didn't even feel it. “Let’s see if you have a bite that can go with it.”

He let go of Hunk but, before he could hit the ground, the two sentries intercepted him by his arms.

The Druid turned away and exited the cell. The sentries followed behind, dragging Hunk along with them. Hunk struggled against their hold but they didn’t budge.

“H-Hey! What are you doing?” he shouted. He didn’t really think that the Galra would kill him—otherwise, they would have done it already—but he knew that didn’t rule out things like the Gladiator Arena. He was a Paladin—maybe not the most important or even the strongest one, but he must still have some value if the Galra hadn’t killed him yet.

“Oh, you’ll see, little cub,” the Druid hummed.

They arrived in a room that Hunk quickly realized was a lab. He renewed his struggles against his captors as the panic began to seep through once again. Although Shiro never explicitly mentioned other experiments being done on him except for the one that got him his Galra arm, they could all read between the lines. He did not come out of his imprisonment with a litany of trauma and nightmares from just _one_ experiment.

The sentries transported him to the operating table in the center of the room, strapping him down with terrifying efficiency.

A third sentry appeared with a syringe filled with a glowing yellow liquid. “W-What is that?” Despite Hunk's struggles, it only took the sentry a few seconds to inject the syringe into his arm with surgical precision. “What the hell did you just give me?” he asked fearfully.

“It isn’t poison if that is what you are worried about,” answered the Druid. “We’ve simply given you...something to make you more malleable.”

He pressed a button on a nearby console, which raised the table until Hunk was almost perpendicular to the floor. The Druid glided over and only stopped once he was standing right in front of Hunk.

Hunk swallowed but held his head up to meet the mask’s unsettling eyes. He had given up on trying to hide his fear but he could at least try to uphold an appearance of bravery. He had to make the team proud, if nothing else.

The Druid once again grasped his chin between his cold, cold fingers, and leered, “I’m going to ask you some questions now.”

“I won’t tell you where the Lions are,” Hunk spat.

The Druid actually tutted at him. “I wouldn’t be too sure about that. You see, I _always_ get what I want and there is nothing you can do to stop me.” He leaned in closer until his mask touched Hunk’s forehead. “Luckily for you, however, I have no interest in the Lions at the moment. Right now, I’m more curious about what it takes to break a Paladin.”

He abruptly let go of Hunk and stepped back. He raised his other hand, which began to glow that familiar ugly purple, and Hunk flinched. “Now, what is your greatest fear?”

The question threw Hunk off. Instantly, memories began to flash through his mind, as if they were being dragged out of his brain by an invisible hand.

 _Earth._ Lance and Pidge’s backs as they ran towards the mysterious ship that landed just a few miles away from the Garrison on the night they rescued Shiro.

 _Thayserix._ Keith snarling, “ _Stay out of my way!_ ” On Hunk’s screen, the Black Lion was pulling away from the team, its eyes fixed on Lotor’s ship like it couldn’t see anything else.

 _Olkarion._ Keith’s back facing them as he quietly exited the bridge. Leaving the team behind.

 _The Castle._ Keith’s back, this time framed against the Castle’s lights coming through the open doorway to Hunk’s bedroom. A shadowy pillar. Hunk reached out to touch him but he was always just a little too far. It was not enough, _he_ was not enough.

Then, as suddenly as the whole thing had begun, Hunk felt the invisible hand withdraw. He dropped his head, sweating and shaking violently. _Jesus, what the hell was that?_ It reminded him of the mind-melding exercise Allura and Coran used to make the team do during their early days in space but worse. At least the mind-melds never actually _forced_ them to share more than what they were comfortable with. It simply encouraged them.

This? Hunk felt like an intruder had just ripped open the door to his soul and carelessly ran their hand over all his belongings.

Acid climbed the back of his throat and he threw up. Some vomit landed on the tips of his boots while some ended up on the Druid’s cloak. The Druid didn’t seem to care and didn’t move, seemingly content to watch Hunk retch for as long as his body thought was appropriate.

“W-What did you just do to me?” Hunk rasped eventually. His headband must have gotten loose at some point because he felt his hair plastered all over his forehead.

“I simply took a peek inside that _wonderful_ little brain of yours, that’s all,” said the Druid in a sickeningly sweet tone. It reminded Hunk of the way his family doctor sounded during his annual checkups. “And my, what a treasure trove it was.”

The Druid leaned forward again, gently wiping the spit and vomit from Hunk’s chin. Hunk tried to pull away but the Druid’s grip was too strong. “I see that your greatest fear is being abandoned by your loved ones.”

Hunk felt as if his skin had turned to ice, despite the sweat drenching his body. It wasn’t exactly a secret that being left behind was one of his biggest fears, but that was something only his family and friends knew. For the Druid to have picked up on that from just a handful of memories…

It made him feel violated—unclean. And it easily outstripped all the times he had ever been injured or ill in the seventeen years he’s been alive.

“That boy with the purple eyes— _Galra_ eyes—he was the Red Paladin, wasn’t he?”

Hunk’s gut twisted. _Why was he singling Keith out?_

The Druid chuckled. “He is a good swordsman, that one. In the last ten thousand decaphoebs, there have been very few people who actually had the courage to take on our late Emperor, much less _survive_. Let’s say he’s made quite an impression,” he said, as if he could still hear Hunk’s thoughts. He placed his finger on Hunk’s chin and tipped his head up so they were facing each other once again. Hunk was really, really beginning to hate the feeling of being touched like this.

“You’re quite fond of him, aren’t you?”

 _No, I’m not_ , Hunk thought fiercely. But the tears prickling at the corners of his eyes belied what he told himself.

It was the truth and they both knew it.

The Druid let go of him but Hunk knew it didn’t mean he was about to get a reprieve. This was far from over. “Now, my next question: are you in love with the Red Paladin?”

His hand began to glow purple again.

* * *

The screen remained stubbornly blank.

Pidge growled and slammed her fist against the keyboard for what felt like the hundredth time in that hour. “You’re a machine that’s older than human and even certain alien civilizations as we know it, and yet you can’t even find _one person_ ,” she hissed as she ran the program again.

This wasn’t supposed to happen. With Zarkon dead, the mission was supposed to be easy. That bounty hunter was supposed to be locked up in a cell at least half a dozen galaxies away.

They were all supposed to be watching dumb videos on her laptop right now, like they promised Allura. Because Hunk— _any_ of them, really—was never supposed to be captured.

Pidge shoved her glasses up to the top of her head and rubbed her eyes. Maybe if she’d been faster, if she’d paid better attention to the system before it was too late, the Druid ship might never have been alerted to their presence.

And then Hunk would be here, probably telling his corny math jokes and baking cookies.

But he wasn’t, so it was up to Pidge to find him and bring him home before god knew what the Galra could do to him.

“Pidge?”

Pidge didn’t look up from the screen, which was still infuriatingly _blank_. “Not now, Lance,” she grunted.

She heard two pairs of feet cross the room, stopping just behind her. A hand dropped onto her shoulder and turned her around. She only went because she wasn't doing anything else.

Lance and Allura were standing behind her, both of them in their robes. “Have you been here this whole time?” Lance’s brows creased.

“Couldn’t sleep,” Pidge told him bluntly. And she wasn’t even lying.

“Pidge, it’s been almost twenty-four hours. You _need_ to rest.”

Pidge narrowed her eyes at Lance. His hair was a mess and his skin wasn’t glowing the way it usually did after he put on one of his face masks. “Look who’s talking. You haven’t even slept a wink yet, either, have you?”

Allura stepped forward and met her glare with one of her own. “Pidge, we’re _all_ feeling restless because—because of Hunk, but you’re not helping by running yourself into the ground like this.” Even the mice, who were riding on her shoulders, were giving her a judgmental look.

Hot anger sprouted in Pidge’s chest like ivy and she shot out of her chair, shoving Lance’s hand off her shoulder in the process. “Well, at least I’m doing _something_ , unlike the rest of you!”

“Yeah, that’s some great work you’re doing, when you’ve got _jackshit_ ,” Lance snarled, folding his arms across his chest and bending down until they were nearly nose to nose.

“How _dare_ you—”

“ _Stop it._ ” Allura didn’t raise her voice but she didn’t need to. The quiet regal tone in her voice cut between them like a sharp knife. She let out a deep sigh that sounded far too wary for someone as young as she was. “We cannot afford to fight amongst ourselves at a time like this.” She met Pidge’s gaze with bright wet eyes. They looked ethereal under the dimmed lights of the bridge. “Pidge, I know you’re worried about Hunk. We _all_ are. But you’re not helping anyone, least of all Hunk, by pushing yourself to the brink of exhaustion. We’ve already lost one of our own, we can’t afford to lose you, too.”

Pidge bit her lip and looked away. Allura was right, but hearing the words spoken out loud hurt.

She never dealt well with sitting still. After all, as her bubbie always said before she passed away, _what was the point of being put on this Earth if you weren’t going to do something worthwhile?_

Lance’s shoulders slumped and Pidge could almost see his anger drain out of him like air from a deflated balloon. Her own anger began to recede as well. “I’m sorry,” Lance whispered. “I shouldn’t have said that. I didn’t mean it.”

Pidge nodded. “I know. I’m sorry, too.” She glanced back at her screen, which was still infuriatingly blank. “But…”

Lance, for all that he always acted like a ditz, seemed to understand what she wanted without her having to even think it. “You want to wait for the program to finish, right? Well, since we’re all out of bed anyway, why don’t we have a sleepover?”

“Right here? On the bridge?” Allura quirked her eyebrow at him but she didn’t sound opposed to the idea.

“Sure. Just let me grab some extra sheets and then we’ll be good to go. What do you say?”

Allura didn’t even need a full second to think on it before she was nodding. “That sounds like a wonderful idea. Is that alright with you, Pidge?”

Pidge met her friends’ gazes and thought about how the rest of her night would have gone if they hadn’t shown up. She probably would have eventually passed out a few hours later, slumped at her seat and alone. And Allura was right—even if they _did_ find Hunk within the next hour or so, she would have been completely useless to them.

Then, she remembered the last time she ‘bonded’ with her Garrison classmates before the word Voltron even entered her vocabulary. It had been Lance’s idea—as always—to camp out on the roof towards the end of their first semester. They had all been feeling the brunt of their midterms and were starting to get snappy with each other. Pidge had protested, the additional pressure of finding Dad and Matt bearing heavily down on her at the time, but had been powerless against Lance and Hunk’s insistence to take a break.

It had been one of the happiest nights she could remember having in a long time.

“Yeah, a sleepover sounds good to me,” she said eventually, offering Lance and Allura a small smile.

Things were far from okay. Hunk was still missing and they had no idea where he was, but Pidge could still feel his presence, as faint as it was, through the Lion bond.

Hunk was still alive and they were going to find him.

But for now, as she snuggled into Allura’s side with Lance’s arm draped protectively over both of them, Pidge finally let herself close her eyes.

* * *

After lying awake in his bed and staring uselessly at the ceiling for two hours, Keith finally accepted that his chances of falling asleep were probably slim to none. He padded out of his room and into the dimly lit, empty corridors of the Castle, only half paying attention to where his feet were taking him.

The hallways were dead silent, reminding him uncomfortably of the Blade of Marmora base at night, or what constituted as night there. Even though the base was always active in some way, there was never really any _life_ there. Not like in the Castle, despite housing fewer than ten people.

 _And now we’re down by one_ , Keith’s brain mocked.

Keith shook his head and clenched his fists. _No, we’re going to get Hunk back_ , he promised to himself.

He stopped outside Shiro’s room—there was no light coming from beneath his door. He raised his knuckles to knock on it but hesitation held him back like iron manacles around his wrist.

During their first week in space, Shiro had told him that he was always welcome to his door if he ever wanted to talk, no matter what time it was, just like at the Garrison. Although Keith hadn’t taken him up on his offer yet, just knowing that Shiro was still there—after the hellish year that was Kerberos—was enough.

But now? After the way Shiro vehemently lashed out at all of them for rejecting his, frankly, _terrible_ idea of going to the Kral Zera? He wasn’t so sure. Shiro, for all that he seemed to be the embodiment of the perfect boy scout, could hold a grudge when he wanted to. He was just better at hiding his anger than ~~Keith~~ most people.

But Keith hated the idea of leaving things unsaid between them even more. Especially after Lance had aired his dirty laundry out in front of _everybody_ on the bridge. It seemed like the right thing to do, to talk about their feelings like the mature soldiers they were supposed to be.

Yet, he could also admit, at least to himself, that he was afraid of what Shiro’s response would be.

(He’d let Keith down gently. And he would probably feel bad about it, too, because that was just the kind of person he was.)

(But a rejection was still a rejection.)

He dropped his arm and continued wandering aimlessly down the hall.

A few minutes later, he found himself standing just outside of the bridge, as if his subconscious was taunting him.

He was about to turn around, head back to his room and make another go of getting some sleep, when he caught the telltale flicker of light beneath the door that meant someone was on the other side.

Brows furrowed, he opened the door.

He wasn’t sure _what_ he was looking at until a small bump among the pile of blankets stacked together at the center of the bridge shifted. Lance’s head popped up a few seconds later, looking annoyed. “Shut the door, Keith, we’re trying to sleep here,” he yawned.

Keith raised an eyebrow but did as he was told, plunging the room back into near darkness. The only source of light was the crystal hanging above Allura's podium, but it was currently set to night mode. “‘We’?” he repeated dumbly.

“Yeah.” Lance gestured to the two lumps next to him. “Me, Allura, and Pidge. None of us could sleep in our own rooms, so we decided to have a sleepover.”

“Oh.” Keith blinked. Right, sleepovers. That was a thing people did.

 _You could stay_ , Hunk's voice whispered in his head, almost tauntingly.

He flinched. “Sorry, I’ll go now if you want—”

Lance let out an exasperated sigh and patted the empty space next to him. “Get over here, Mullet.”

Keith didn’t know whether it was because of the loneliness or exhaustion, but he found himself obeying Lance without question. He slid underneath the blankets and let the other boy pull his arm over his torso so they could cuddle.

Months ago, Keith would have laughed himself to tears if someone had told him that he was going to end up spooning Lance in the middle of the night on the bridge of the Castle of Lions, but, well, he supposed that crazier things have happened since then.

A small hand latched onto his wrist and he looked over Lance’s shoulder to find that it belonged to Pidge. She didn’t even open her eyes as she huffed, “Go the fuck to sleep, Kogane.”

So Keith did.

* * *

When Hunk opened his eyes, he was sitting in his favourite spot at the back of the Garrison library.

 _I must have fallen asleep_ , he thought as he stretched his arms above his head and yawned. He tried to concentrate on his textbook but the words remained stubbornly out of focus.

A shadow fell over the page and Hunk looked up to find three senior students smirking down at him. He didn’t know their names but he recognized them from frequently seeing them blustering and throwing their weight around in the halls.

He swallowed and gave them what he hoped was a friendly enough grin. “H-Hi,” he croaked. His voice hadn’t dropped yet, and he knew that he still sounded like a little kid. He hated it.

“Hey, freshmeat,” said the boy in the middle. He smiled pleasantly at Hunk but there was nothing friendly in his eyes. “You’re in our spot.”

“Oh! S-Sorry, I didn’t see a ‘reserved’ sign on the table,” Hunk gulped, glancing around for the librarian.

The librarian was nowhere to be found and none of the handful of students scattered around the immediate area were looking his way. They all had their heads tucked into their books or tablets, suspiciously focused on whatever their projects were.

 _Thanks for nothing_ , Hunk thought bitterly.

The girl to the left of the boy cackled. Uncharitably, Hunk thought that she sounded exactly like a witch from a fairytale. “A ‘reserved’ sign? Seriously? What do you think this is, a restaurant?”

“N-no! It’s just—”

“Move it, squirt,” the second boy snorted. He rounded the desk and even kicked at one of the legs on Hunk’s chair, catching his calf and nearly tipping him over.

Hunk almost fell in his haste to get out of his seat. The girl took his spot and threw her legs onto the desk, dropping her heels onto his books and notes.

Hunk gulped but began to pack his things up, though he didn’t dare go near the girl. He reached for his tupperware of cookies next but the first boy swiped it off the table before he could grab it. “Oh, and leave this behind, would you?” he asked, but it was in a tone that meant it hadn’t been a question.

Hunk felt tears brimming at the corners of his eyes. These were his _Mama’s_ cookies.

They were his first taste of home since he joined the Garrison and _these assholes were just going to take them._

He opened his mouth—whether to cry or beg for his cookies back, he didn’t know—but a fourth voice cut in before he could speak. “Don’t you idiots have anywhere better to be?”

Hunk’s eyes widened when a familiar black-haired boy walked out from behind a shelf, hands in his pockets and looking like a stereotypical bad boy that just stepped straight out of one of Hunk’s YA novels.

Keith Kogane, the troublemaker who sucker punched James Griffin in the middle of class during the first month of the semester.

Keith Kogane, the cadet whose entrance exam scores _almost_ beat Takashi Shirogane’s. No one else in recent Garrison history had ever come as close as him.

Keith Kogane, who was the prettiest boy Hunk had ever seen.

The second boy sneered at him. “Stay out of it, shortstop. We all know that you’re on thin ice as it is.”

“One more fight and you’re gone,” added the first boy.

Keith simply blinked. “You’re right,” he said, raising his voice, “but then you’d risk the whole school finding out that three seniors got their asses handed to them by a freshman.”

A few students raised their heads and glanced their way.

The seniors suddenly didn’t look as confident as they had been just minutes ago. If Hunk weren’t so afraid, he’d have burst out laughing at the one-eighty.

“You’re even dumber than we thought if you think you can take us on and win,” the first boy hissed. He marched up to Keith and leaned right into his space, towering over him.

He was at least half a foot taller than Keith, but Keith didn’t look scared at all. In fact, if Hunk were to guess, he’d say that he actually looked _bored_. “Maybe, but what do you think the administration would care about more? A known problem student getting into a fight with three older students who should really know better?” He smirked. “Or three senior students who are about to graduate next year picking fights with freshmen? Especially when said students have also been witnessed _stealing_ from a freshman?”

The seniors exchanged uneasy looks with each other before the first boy let out a frustrated huff and tossed Hunk’s tupperware back onto the table with so much force it actually bounced. He gestured wordlessly to the other two and they traipsed after him with their heads down. To Hunk, they looked like dogs with their tails tucked between their legs.

He turned to Keith and gave him a shy smile. “Um, thank you. That was really nice of you.”

Keith shrugged. “They were being loud and it was annoying me.”

At this point, Keith was supposed to turn on his heels and disappear back among the stacks before Hunk could even introduce himself, leaving behind a crush that would carry on for years, even going as far as billions of light years away from Earth.

But Keith didn’t do that. Instead, he strode up to Hunk with a shark-like grin on his face. Hunk held his breath as Keith gripped his chin between his fingers. Keith was a good head shorter than him but right now, Hunk felt like he was the smaller one between the two of them.

“Actually, there is one way you could pay me back,” said Keith, lowering his voice into a deep, sultry tone.

It was Keith’s voice and face, but everything about him was...wrong. It was like looking into someone’s distorted reflection in a funhouse mirror.

“W-What do you mean?” Hunk gulped.

Keith leaned up on his tiptoes until his lips were right up against Hunk’s ears. “Just tell me where the Blade of Marmora’s base is.”

It was still Keith’s voice but Hunk’s instincts were screaming at him to _run, run, run away now!_

“I-I can’t,” Hunk stammered. Keith’s indigo-purple eyes bore into him like a drill. He couldn’t look away no matter how much he wanted to.

“Hmm, suit yourself then,” Keith said loftily.

He let go of Hunk’s chin and turned away.

Then, he spun around with his knife in hand and Hunk caught a yellow glare in the other boy’s eyes just before he stabbed Hunk in the stomach. Hunk screamed and—

* * *

—when he opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was the Druid’s white mask, the silhouette framed by the Galra ship’s sickly lavender light like a halo. His eyes darted down to his stomach, where he could still feel the sharp, bone-piercing stab of Keith’s knife in his gut, but there was nothing. No blood or any kind of tear in the fabric of his suit.

For one heartbeat, unbidden, he felt relief, because it was just a dream.

But then, cold hard dread filled his heart as he remembered where he was. _This_ wasn’t a dream, it was a fucking nightmare in reality.

He didn’t even try to stop the tears that began streaming down his face. He wasn’t as strong as Keith or Shiro, or as brave as Lance, as cunning as Pidge, and certainly not as regal as Allura—he was simply Hunk. He had nothing.

He was at this mad man’s complete mercy and there was nothing he could do about it.

“Time?” the Druid drawled lazily.

“It has been ten doboshes, sir,” answered one of the sentries at his back.

 _Ten minutes?_ , Hunk thought, stomach churning. He felt like he had been in that ~~memory~~ dream for at least an _hour_.

“Excellent. The hyoscine’s effect is stronger than I’d hoped,” said the Druid, sounding _delighted_. He raised his hand and began to stroke Hunk’s cheek, wiping his tears away. Hunk tried to dislodge him but was too weak to do more than nudge the Druid’s hand. His head felt too heavy for him to even lift, like it was weighed down by a sack of stones sinking to the bottom of a lake.

A sentry appeared at his side and injected another dose of that damned drug into him. Once it was done, the Druid’s hand began to glow, nearly blinding Hunk momentarily due to its proximity.

(But there was nothing warm about the light. It was cold, cold and unnatural. Wrong.)

“Let’s try this again, little cub: where is the Blade of Marmora’s base?”

The blue star slowly began to take shape in Hunk’s mind, like paint splattered on a blank canvas, before he gathered enough strength to squeeze his eyes shut and shake the image out of his head. Instead, he latched onto the memories of his friends.

Lance, bringing him a glass of milk from Kaltenecker. Pidge, showing him a new piece of code she had written. Shiro, patiently teaching him a manoeuver on the training deck. Allura, laughing while giving the mice a bath. Coran, sneaking stories of Altea and his youth in between explaining all of the Castle’s secrets.

And _Keith_ , smiling at him at the end of their Weblum mission all those months ago.

The Druid chuckled, sounding amused. The sack of stones in Hunk’s head grew heavier but he held onto that last memory with everything he had.

It was the last time he had seen Keith look that free and unburdened in a long time. He looked nothing like the demon that was in his head just now and Hunk put all his focus on that.

“You really believe that half-breed and your little band of misfits are going to come for you, don’t you?” the Druid asked. His tone was a mockery of kindness. “Your faith is admirable, truly, and I do hope to see more of it.” He lifted Hunk’s head and shook him violently until he opened his eyes. A pair of sickly pupil-less yellow eyes met his. “Because I _will_ break it and I’m going to enjoy every second of it,” the Druid whispered into Hunk’s ear, just loud enough for him to hear.

And Hunk knew, with chilling certainty, that he was telling the truth.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> None of them said it out loud but, judging by the worry on everyone’s faces, they were thinking the same thing. Was Hunk even alive?
> 
> Lotor actually cocked his head to the side, considering. “ _He is most likely alive,_ ” he said carefully.
> 
> “ _Most likely—_ ”
> 
> Lotor raised his hand to cut Coran off. “ _I say that because I have identified the Druid to whom that ship belonged and let’s just say, as much as I loathe that witch and her sycophants, I am…_ familiar _with his works._ ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Holidays, y’all! No matter what you celebrate, I hope you’re all warm and have delicious food waiting for you.

Keith’s body vibrated in anger as he waited for Shiro to arrive at the bridge. Next to him, he could feel heat radiating from Lance, Pidge, and Allura’s bodies, and knew, even without the Lion bond, that they were just as furious as he was.

The doors to the bridge slid open, revealing Shiro standing tall and proud—and alone.

“What the hell was that?” Keith hissed. “We specifically agreed that we weren’t going to put Lotor on the throne, that we would leave the Kral Zera to the Blade!”

The vision of all the Lions save Yellow hovering above that altar like they were gods of old as the Galra bowed to them and Lotor was still fresh in Keith’s mind. He knew that he would never forget it as long as he lived.

It also made his instincts scream at how utterly wrong, wrong, _wrong_ it all was.

“No,” said Shiro with infuriating calmness, “ _you_ decided that without fully considering the benefits. I just did what was best for us.”

“But was it the best for Hunk?” Lance cut in, joining Keith’s side to get into Shiro’s space.

Hunk mentioned that Lance had a bit of a man crush on Shiro once. Looking at Lance now, Keith suspected that the crush was no more.

Shiro didn’t even blink. “ _Yes,_ ” he said. “How long have we been searching for Hunk? Days? Now that Lotor is in control, he will have access to _all_ the Empire’s records in _seconds_.”

“Yeah, fat lot of good _that_ is when all we’ve been doing for the last twenty minutes is standing here uselessly while we wait for _His Highness_ to actually respond to our transmission,” Pidge snarled. “And that’s if he hasn’t already decided to drop our alliance like a hot potato.” She had her arms folded across her chest but Keith didn’t miss the way her fingers twitched for her bayard. He didn’t think she would actually _attack_ Shiro, no matter how angry she was, but he also didn’t know if he would stop her if she did.

And that scared him, almost as much as the fact that they still didn’t know where Hunk was.

Keith could hear both Black and Red rumble uneasily in the back of his mind. And, although it was extremely faint, he could also hear Yellow make a mournful noise. There was a gaping Hunk-shaped hole in their pride and they all felt it like someone had stolen a piece of each of their hearts.

He hadn’t realized just how important Hunk had become to him in the last few months, not just as a teammate, not just as a friend, but as someone more than that—halfway between friend and lover. Keith already had trouble sleeping even before Hunk got captured. It was impossible for him to go a night without rolling over in his bed and reaching for a warm body that wasn’t there.

Hunk had told him many times that he was welcome to stay the night but Keith always declined. The boundaries between them had blurred dangerously since they started this thing between them, he couldn’t afford to muddy it any more. Not when he was struggling with maintaining his distance from Shiro.

At least, that was what he had been telling himself.

“We wasted almost a whole day getting involved in stupid Galra politics when we could have been using that time to look for Hunk and you _still_ have the gall to tell us this was a good idea,” said Lance incredulously. He was staring at Shiro like he didn’t even recognize the older man.

Keith privately felt the same.

“And I’m telling you it’s _not_ a waste of time—”

“ _Ah, good, you’re all here,_ ” Lotor’s voice bellowed, interrupting them all.

They all whipped their heads up in the direction of the holo-screen. Keith could see what looked like at least a dozen sentries and Galra flanking Lotor in the background. “ _I apologize for my tardiness. It took me a while but I believe that I now have some idea of where the Yellow Paladin is._ ”

All the annoyance and anger Keith felt earlier evaporated from him, replaced by one singular thought: _Hunk._

“Well? Where is he?” Lance snapped. “Is-Is he okay?”

And just like that, Keith’s relief was short-lived. None of them said it out loud but, judging by the worry on everyone’s faces, they were thinking the same thing. Was Hunk even alive?

Lotor actually cocked his head to the side, considering. “ _He is most likely alive,_ ” he said carefully.

“ _Most likely—_ ”

Lotor raised his hand to cut Coran off. “ _I say that because I have identified the Druid to whom that ship belonged and let’s just say, as much as I loathe_ that witch _and her sycophants, I am…_ familiar _with his works._ ”

He gestured to one of the guards, who stepped forward and tapped something on the tablet in her hands. Lotor briefly disappeared from view, replaced by an image of a Druid. They looked no different than the ones Keith had fought in the past.

“ _He is—or, perhaps I should say,_ was _infamous across the Empire. Many have known him as the Interrogator._ ”

Pidge sucked in her breath and stumbled backwards. “I-I’ve seen that name before.” She swallowed. “In the Galra’s database. Whoever it is, he has a reputation for always being able to get his...his victims to talk.”

And Hunk has been in his clutches for almost a week.

“Where is he now?” Allura’s voice was impressively steady and calm before the storm brewing among them, but Keith knew better than to take that at face value.

There was a determined fire in her eyes, the same fire he saw when he first met her, a princess of a lost kingdom with nothing else left to lose.

The screen changed to a map of a galaxy that Keith didn’t recognize.

“ _We haven’t been able to pinpoint his exact location,_ ” Lotor’s disembodied voice explained, sounding genuinely annoyed. “ _But we’ve been able to narrow it to the Cyclonia system._ ”

“What do you mean you can’t _pinpoint_ his location?” Pidge asked. “What good does being emperor do if you can’t even do that?”

Someone gasped in the background of wherever Lotor had now situated himself, but Lotor himself didn’t seem to care, because his voice continued, “ _There is only a handful of Druid ships in the Empire’s fleet and, as such, they each have a unique signature, which is what we used to find the Interrogator’s general location. However, the ship possesses far more protections than what the average Empire ship has._ ”

“You mean magic,” said Allura bluntly.

“ _Among other things, yes. Attempting to retrieve their coordinates has been met with...interesting results._ ”

“I can try to track him through his helmet once we reach Cyclonia,” Pidge offered, already typing something on her suit’s wrist guard. “We should be close enough for me to get a signal when we get there.”

Keith nodded and turned to face his team, drawing his shoulders back in the way he usually did whenever he had to give an order—back before Shiro returned. Even though it had been months since the last time he led a mission, he found himself sliding back into the role easily, like putting on an old coat again. “Okay, Allura, open a wormhole as soon as you can. Everyone else, get to your Lions. We’re going to comb every inch of that galaxy if we have to.”

Everyone nodded and began to head to their battle stations, only stopping when Shiro let out a quiet noise of protest. “We need to come up with a plan first,” he said. “We’re going in blind.”

It was Coran, of all people, who spoke up. Keith wasn’t used to him getting directly involved in Paladin business; the older man tended to stay in the sidelines, content to let them do what they thought was best. “If I may, Shiro, we don’t have time for that. Hunk is still in danger and it is imperative that we find him before anything happens.”

 _Or if anything worse happens_ , was what he didn’t say, but they could all hear it in the air as if it had been blown by a foghorn.

* * *

“Wake up, Hunk.”

Long fingers gently brushed his fringe from his forehead but Hunk kept his eyes stubbornly closed. The voice sounded like Keith and the touch certainly felt real enough, but Hunk knew what was waiting for him if he woke up.

_Yellow eyes. That horrible unfeeling purple light of the Galra ship. Cold, cold hands._

He almost wished the Druid had gone for physical torture instead of whatever _this_ was. Because at least then, he could use the pain as a distraction. But here, in whatever mental hellscape the Druid had set up for him, there was nothing. It was just the two of them.

The two of them, and every single secret desire and fear Hunk ever had on parade for the Galra to see.

Keith’s voice chuckled and grew closer. Lips brushed against Hunk’s ear. He shivered and only squeezed his eyes tighter. “Come on, sleepyhead. It’s almost time to have breakfast with Lance and the others. You don’t want to miss that, do you?”

_This isn’t real, this isn’t real, this isn’t real. It’s just the serum making you think that._

Hunk _knew_ this, had repeated this mantra to himself what must have been a thousand times by now.

But that didn’t stop the desire to open his eyes, to see Keith and touch him and actually experience what it was like to be loved by him, from growing within him. It was like a fissure, opening ever wider and threatening to swallow him whole.

Keith’s voice let out an amused huff. “Alright, you asked for it.” Hunk felt the weight at his back move away.

 _No, just leave me alone,_ please.

Lips suddenly pressed against his and he couldn’t help jolting backwards and opening his eyes.

Keith was standing over him on the bed, a smirk on his face. He was wearing Hunk’s sleep shirt, the collar of which threatened to fall off his shoulder any minute now, and a pair of red boxers.

He was gorgeous. “There’s my lion cub,” he crooned. He pushed Hunk down until he was on his back and straddled him. He tangled their fingers together and pinned Hunk’s hands by his head. “Now, tell me where the Voltron Coalition’s base of operations is.”

Hunk shook his head rapidly, trying to shake the pressure building up in his head, urging him to _give in, give in_. “I-I can’t, Keith,” he whimpered. His eyes met Keith’s stony ones (had they always been that bright?) and pleaded, “Please don’t make me do this. I-I have to protect them. They’re counting on me.”

Keith chuckled again and leaned down until their foreheads were touching. For a boy who tended to run hot, just like his old Lion, his skin felt like ice to Hunk right now. “And you’re doing such a _wonderful_ job, cub,” he praised. “But don’t you think it’s time you took a break? It’s just that you’ve been working _so_ hard these past few days. Why don’t you tell me what I need to know so I can take over for you?”

For a moment, Hunk could have sworn Keith’s pupils glowed yellow, but it lasted for only half a heartbeat. Keith continued in a sing-song tone, like a siren, “Don’t you love me? Don’t you want to make me happy?”

Tears were falling freely from Hunk’s eyes now. Yes, he loved Keith. He loved him so much that it hurt sometimes. And he wanted _so badly_ to make him happy, to make the other boy smile at him the way he always smiled at Shiro.

So, despite his instincts screaming at him that this wasn’t _right_ , he opened his mouth and began to speak.

Keith smiled down at him, all teeth.

* * *

“...Received reports that confirm our intel…forces are stationed at Olkarion...your orders, sir?”

There was a long pause. Hunk was almost convinced he’d fallen back into unconsciousness until the Druid spoke. “There’s no need to rush. I have a feeling the rebels won’t be going anywhere.”

Hunk felt the table beneath him jolt and shift until he was parallel to the floor. He groaned when he felt the Druid’s too-long, skeletal fingers brush his skin but no longer had the strength to try to throw him off.

How long had it been since he got captured? A month? Two months? He couldn’t tell anymore. All he knew was it felt like he had been here for ages, with no escape in sight.

“I haven’t finished playing with the cub yet.”

Was this what defeat felt like? Like death slowly tightening its grip around one’s neck, one finger at a time?

Because if it was, Hunk wished he were already dead.

* * *

Keith heard Pidge’s screen emit out a loud, satisfied ‘ _ding!_ ’ almost as soon as they exited the wormhole. “I see him!” she yelled. He gripped the back of her seat tightly. “I’m sending coordinates to all of you right now.”

He couldn’t help exhaling as sheer relief flooded him. It was short-lived, though, because he knew—they all did—that it didn’t mean Hunk wasn’t hurt. Not even Allura had escaped unscathed and she had only been a prisoner for no more than half a day.

Pidge didn’t waste any time in following the path that Green laid out for her. Keith could hear the Lions singing in his head all the while and knew the others could hear them too. _Hunk was alive._ And right now, that was all that mattered.

They found the ship within minutes but hung back to avoid being detected. “ _Keith, how do you want to do this?_ ” Lance asked.

Keith blinked in surprise. Lance was asking him? Instead of Shiro?

But he shook the surprise off quickly. He could analyze that later; Hunk was their first priority. “Pidge and I will sneak aboard in Green. Lance, Allura, I need both of you to stay out of sight but still in range of comms. As soon as we’ve got Hunk, I want you to blast that cruiser with everything you’ve got.” _And leave nothing behind._

“ _You got it, Keith,_ ” said Lance at the same time Allura whispered, “ _Of course_.”

“ _I’m coming, too,_ ” said Shiro.

Keith startled at his voice. He had completely forgotten about Shiro and that—he didn’t know how to feel about that. He was so used to leading the same four people that he hadn’t considered where Shiro would fit into this plan.

“ _I think you should stay behind with Black. We’re going to need all the fire power we have to take these bastards out,_ ” Lance cut in sharply. He sounded even-tempered enough but Keith could still hear the anger bubbling just beneath the surface of his voice, threatening to boil over at any moment.

Keith felt the instinctive urge to snarl something back in Shiro’s defence rise within him, but quickly stomped down on it. Now was not the time to fall back on petty behaviour, not when one of their own was on the line.

(But Hunk wasn’t _just_ one of their own, was he? Hunk was special—he was the best of them all and the leg that held them up when they were too weak to stand on their own. He was, in many ways, the one good thing in Keith’s life for the last couple of months.)

But, more than that, a small part of Keith understood. Keith didn’t know if he could classify what Shiro did as wrong, not when it got them what they needed in the end, but he couldn’t ignore the fact that Shiro still took Lotor to the Kral Zera even after they had decided against that as a team.

What he did went against everything he had ever taught Keith about teamwork and it left him in a tailspin.

“Lance is right. This is a stealth mission before anything else. Bringing more people along is a risk we can’t take.”

On Keith’s screen, Shiro bit his lip in the way Keith had learned meant he wasn’t happy and was resisting the urge to say something about it. Keith swallowed. He had never been the recipient of that look before and it hurt.

“ _Fine,_ ” Shiro replied tersely.

Keith almost wanted to take back what he said.

Almost, because Hunk was more important and he knew he was right.

* * *

Sneaking onto the cruiser had not been as difficult as Keith had been expecting, even with all the Druid magic that supposedly protected it from these exact situations. For Keith, it was practically routine at this point, considering the number of stealth missions he ran with the Blade. But he still didn’t dare let his guard down as he and Pidge crept down the corridor highlighted on her tracker.

This wasn’t just another data extraction or smash and grab—Hunk’s _life_ was at stake, and that meant they had to be even more careful than usual.

“Almost there,” Pidge whispered.

Keith nodded and wrapped his hand around his knife, ready to unsheathe it at the first sign of trouble.

The tracker led them to what appeared to be a storage room a few seconds later. A quick sweep told them that there was no one in there, which was simultaneously comforting and worrying.

Pidge let out a curse as her tracker took her to the far side of the room, where a pile of weapons was strewn haphazardly on the floor. “That’s his helmet and armour,” she hissed as she picked them up. “There’s no sign of his bayard, though.”

It took all of Keith’s self-control to resist the urge to slam his fist against the wall. This meant that they were back to square one. Best case scenario: Hunk was still somewhere on this ship. At worst, he wasn’t, and they would have to start their search all over again.

Keith’s blood went cold at the thought.

“ _Try the cells next,_ ” Shiro suggested. “ _It’s highly unlikely that the Galra would put him anywhere else, especially when he’s such an important prisoner._ ”

“Copy that,” said Keith. He nodded to Pidge, who pulled up the ship’s schematics and began mapping their route.

They had to backtrack a few times in order to sneak past the growing number of sentries and guards that stood between them and the cells, but, when he noted this on the comms, Lance surprised them all by letting out a sigh of relief. “ _That probably means he’s still on the ship,_ ” he reasoned. “ _Why else would they increase their security like this?_ ”

“ _It could also be because of the Druid. Remember, we’ve never been on a ship that was commanded by one,_ ” Allura cautioned, although she sounded just as hopeful and desperate as Lance did.

They finally reached the cells but, when Pidge used her tracker to scan for any signs of life, she found that every single one of them was empty. Except…

“The last door—it’s a lab,” she breathed. “There are two signatures in there. One of them is human.”

That meant the other one was Galra.

Keith stepped in front of Pidge, unsheathed his knife, and stalked toward the set of doors at the very end of the corridor. He let the cocktail of fear and anger that had been churning within him for the past few days leak out as he unlocked his knife’s true form. They were going to get Hunk back, they had to. There was no other option.

He slammed his palm against the scanner and didn’t hesitate to dash into the room as soon as the doors opened wide enough for him to go through. Pidge was right on his heels.

She let out a cry when they were greeted by the sight of Hunk lying lifelessly on the surgical table as a Druid stood over him. His hands were glowing as they hovered just above Hunk’s head.

The Interrogator merely cocked his head at them, bird-like. It was not the first time the Druids’ mask reminded Keith of the Medieval plague doctors he read about in school when he was a kid, but it was the first time he truly understood why they were so feared.

The Druid looked like Death himself.

“My, my,” said the Druid. There was no hint of surprise in his voice. “Looks like we have visitors, little cub.”

Keith wanted to throw up at the Druid’s words.

Dropping Hunk’s helmet and armour to the floor, Pidge summoned her bayard and aimed it at the Druid, eyes narrowed in a glare that was filled with pure rage. “Get away from him!”

The Druid raised his hands in supplication and took a deliberately wide step away from the table. “Of course, of course,” he purred. “I already got all that I could get out of him, anyway. He’s all yours now, if you want.” Keith felt the hairs on the back of his arms and neck stand up at the action.

Wasn’t the Galra’s motto, _Victory or death?_ What the hell was this Druid playing at?

He and Pidge were instantly at Hunk’s side, with Pidge acting as a barrier between them and the Druid. While Pidge kept her bayard pointed at the Druid, Keith shrank his blade back to its knife form and worked on cutting through the straps tying Hunk down.

“Wake up, Hunk,” he pleaded as he cut through the last few straps. Up close, Hunk’s skin was alarmingly pale, resembling the colour of one of Lance’s strange face masks. He looked almost like a corpse, even though Keith could see his chest rising and falling steadily as he breathed.

He looked smaller, too, like he’d lost weight in the few days he had been missing.

_Just what the hell did the Druid do to him?_

“Hunk, please,” Keith whispered as he leaned down and gently shook Hunk’s shoulders. “You gotta wake up. It’s Keith and Pidge. We’re getting you out of here.”

Finally, _finally_ , Hunk seemed to hear him because he cracked his eyes open. His pupils were heavily dilated but Keith had never been so relieved to see those hazel brown eyes in his life.

That relief didn’t last long, though, as Hunk’s eyes widened and he began to flail, inadvertently pushing Keith’s hands away. “No! Get away from me!” Hunk cried. He was moving sluggishly but the desperation in his voice was more than enough to stop Keith from trying to touch him. “You’re not real! I know you’re not!”

Oh, hell, he was _crying_.

“What the hell did you do to him?” Pidge screamed at the Druid, lighting her bayard up threateningly.

The Druid simply chuckled. “I assure you, he is perfectly fine.” He paused. “Well, his body is, at least, but I can’t say the same for his mind.”

Then, before either Keith or Pidge could respond, the Druid disappeared in a cloud of black smoke, his laugh lingering in the air like the smell of rot.

Pidge recalled her bayard and rushed to Hunk’s other side, her small, delicate hands trying to find purchase on his limbs. “Hunk, calm down,” she begged. Keith had never heard her sound so small before, so in contrast to her larger-than-life personality. “It’s me, Pidge.”

Hunk stopped moving at the sound of her voice. He blinked dazedly up at her. “Pidge?” he slurred, “Is-Is that really you?”

Pidge nodded. “Yeah, buddy, it’s me. We’re gonna get you out of here. Can you stand?”

Hunk shakily tried to push himself up to his elbows but quickly fell back down. Keith wrapped his arm around his back and gently raised him up into a sitting position. “Easy there,” he said, “I’ve got you, big guy.”

Hunk flinched at his voice and ducked his head. “K-Keith?” he stammered, “Is that really you?” There was fear in his voice—and it was directed right at Keith.

He wanted to scream. “Yeah, it’s me,” he said, softening his voice in an effort to soothe him.

Hunk’s muscles gradually relaxed in Keith’s hold, although he stubbornly continued to keep his gaze averted. “You promise? This isn’t another one of those… _dreams_ , right?”

_Those dreams?_

Keith exchanged a concerned look with Pidge, who could only shrug helplessly at him.

“ _Guys? Did you find Hunk? What’s your ETA?_ ” Lance called out through the comms. His gulp was audible over the connection. “ _I-I thought I heard his voice just now._ ”

Keith took a deep breath. He didn’t have time to worry about why Hunk was acting this way; he needed to keep himself together for Hunk’s sake. “We found him,” he said. “He’s a bit out of it right now but we’re on our way. Stand by until I give the order to attack.”

“ _Oh, thank the Mothers of all,_ ” Allura exhaled quietly.

“ _I’ll prep a healing pod,_ ” Coran interjected. “ _We’ll be able to handle whatever it is that might be in his system. You just need to get him back to the Castle as soon as possible._ ”

“Copy that,” said Pidge. She turned back to Hunk and dropped her hand in his. She squeezed it and Hunk squeezed back.

It hit Keith then that it must have been days since Hunk had any human contact. Hunk, who always had a hug ready for anyone who asked, and those who didn’t.

“Hunk, we couldn’t find your bayard. Do you know where they might have taken it?” Pidge asked quietly.

Hunk blinked blearily at her for a few seconds. “My bayard? I-I don’t know,” he mumbled, his words garbled together. “I don’t...think it’s here.” His voice went quiet and despondent. “I can’t feel it.”

Keith heard Allura gasp in the comms. “ _No…_ ”

Their bayards were like an extension of their limbs. From the very first moment Keith picked his up, he could always feel it if it was nearby. Even now, he could still hear both the Red and Black bayards humming softly in his ears, beneath the steady, if now slightly muted, presence of the Red and Black Lions embedded in his soul.

If Hunk couldn’t feel his bayard now, that meant it wasn’t on the ship—probably not even in the same galaxy. It could be anywhere.

“Okay. That’s...not good, but we can worry about that later,” Pidge exhaled shakily. “Anyway, I’ve got your helmet and armour, so Keith will have to carry you back to Green. Is that okay?”

It didn’t matter whether it was or not, because that was their only option. Hunk seemed to realize this, too, because he didn’t even protest. Keith tried to give him a reassuring smile when the other boy finally glanced up at him but his heart fell when Hunk immediately dropped his gaze again.

Keith almost wished that the Druid hadn’t disappeared on them, so he would have a target for the rage building up inside of him like a wildfire. He was helpless against whatever was plaguing Hunk and he _hated_ it.

“I’m going to get your legs, okay?” he asked.

Hunk gave a jerky nod but still flinched when Keith’s other arm went under his knees and lifted him off the table. Hunk had no choice but to grip his shoulder for support, yet Keith could still feel him trembling like a leaf.

“It’s okay, you’re okay,” Pidge whispered. “Just breathe, Hunk.”

Hearing her voice actually seemed to help calm him down.

Keith was nowhere near as smart as him or Pidge, but he wasn’t an idiot, either. Somehow, his presence was causing Hunk’s distress and that hurt more than he’d expected.

But he forced himself to shake it off and began to run, letting Pidge take point with her bayard raised in front of her.

They tried to stay hidden as much as possible as they wound their way through the ship and back to where Green was waiting for them, but didn’t bother with being quiet or slow. Getting Hunk back to the Castle, back to their _home_ , was the only thing that mattered right now.

Lance had taken over Pidge’s job now that her hands were literally full, and was calling out directions and enemies. “ _You’ve got two sentries coming ‘round the corner at your three o’clock,_ ” he told them in a deathly calm tone.

Keith has known Lance long enough by now to know that this, if anything, was a sign of just how dire the situation was. Lance was the most emotional one out of all of them; freaking out, making corny jokes, and generally acting like a headless chicken on missions was just par for the course, although he never let it get in the way of his job.

The fact that he wasn’t exhibiting any of his normal behaviour now told Keith all that he needed to know about just how _terrified_ Lance was, and it didn’t bode well for the rest of them.

Pidge dispatched a few more sentries and even a couple guards with frightening precision, and soon they were back in the safety of her Lion. Keith barely had time to lay Hunk down in the cockpit before Pidge was flying them out of the ship, with Green roaring triumphantly.

“We’re clear,” Keith announced, glancing down at Hunk. The other boy was now curled up on his side like a ball but a little bit of colour was finally returning to his skin, as if the distance from the Druid’s influence was helping.

“Take them down.”

Red let out a roar that shook Keith to his very core. The rumble that came from Blue was quieter but no less intense. “ _With pleasure,_ ” Lance snarled. Keith could hear a smile in his voice but it wasn’t a friendly one. It was one that promised fire and destruction and _hell_.

Keith didn’t look back once as the sounds of Red, Blue, and Black tearing the cruiser apart behind him reverberated in the comms. His eyes remained fixed on Hunk as he thought, _What happened to you?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Man, I’m so glad that the Druid is dead now so we won’t have to worry about him anymore!
> 
> ...yeah, I didn’t think you believed me either :’)


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You were really shaken up when Keith and I found you,” Pidge noted hesitantly.
> 
> Hunk’s cheeks grew hot. _Keith_ was there? Hunk hadn’t been sure what was going on when he was being rescued. He remembered hearing Keith and Pidge’s voices, and strong arms cradling him, but everything else was so hazy that he thought he had finally lost it and was hallucinating his own escape.
> 
> The fact that that wasn’t what happened, that Keith had witnessed him losing it like a crazy person was absolutely humiliating.
> 
> The kitchen doors slid open then, revealing none other than Keith standing on the other side, just to make things a little bit worse than they already were.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Year, everyone! No matter how your year was and where you are in life, I hope the new year will be kind to you!

The med bay was even quieter than a funeral parlour as they waited for Coran to finish running his tests. Meanwhile, Hunk floated in the pod, resembling a mannequin more than the cheerful, animated boy that Keith had come to know and respect in the last year.

Finally, Coran let out a deep sigh that gave away just how old he was for a man who usually never hesitated to get involved in the rest of the team’s immature shenanigans.

It occurred to Keith that there had been fewer and fewer of those since Shiro had returned. Something cold and hollow settled in his chest.

“Well, the good news is Hunk’s vitals are returning to normal and he doesn’t appear to have any physical injuries,” said Coran, gesturing to the series of vital signs on his screen.

 _But what about the psychological ones?_ , Keith couldn’t help wondering. Judging by the fearful expressions on everyone’s faces, they were all thinking the same thing as well.

They found Hunk in a _lab_.

 _I already got all that I could get out of him, anyway_ , the Druid had boasted. _I assure you, he is perfectly fine...Well, his body is, at least, but I can’t say the same for his mind._

Lance and Allura had assured Keith that, if the Druid had still been on the ship when their Lions began their assault, there was no way that he was alive now. Keith almost wished the Druid had survived, if for nothing else than for the chance to sink his blade into the Galra in the future, however miniscule it was.

“And the bad news?” Lance asked hesitantly. He stood closest to the healing pod and was currently resting his hand on the glass. Keith didn’t know if Hunk was aware of his presence but he hoped that he was. He deserved to know that his friends were here for him.

 _I shouldn’t be here_ , he thought, looking away from the pod guiltily.

He brought a hand up to his jaw. His bruise had finally faded from the dark angry purple it had been a few days ago to an ugly yellow speckled with a faint green tint. Lance still hadn’t apologized and Keith neither expected or wanted one from him, even if they have made up.

_It’s all your fault!_

Even with Hunk finally back with them, even though he was _right there_ , Keith still couldn’t shake the guilt that lingered over his shoulders like a heavy shawl since their disaster of a mission.

“He’s been given a strong dose of some sort of anesthetic. Most of it is already out of his bloodstream, but, based on the test results, as well as the symptoms that Pidge and Keith described…” Coran frowned. “...he had most likely been given a steady amount of it for a number of days. Maybe even since the first day he was captured.”

Lance hissed some kind of expletive in Spanish and clenched his hand into a fist. He only unclenched it when Allura placed a hand on his shoulder and whispered something in his ear.

Pidge moved closer to Coran and peered up at the screen. “Do you know what kind of anesthetic it is?”

Coran tapped something on the screen, bringing up a list of Altean characters. “We have a word for it in Altean but I don’t know if it will translate well in your language. These are all the components.”

Pidge adjusted her glasses as she read through the list, muttering in a mix of English and Altean. Out of the corner of his eye, Keith spotted Allura taking Lance’s hand and squeezing it. Lance squeezed back.

Keith glanced over at Shiro, who was standing stoically by the door with his arms crossed over his chest. He looked just as concerned as the rest of them but there was a distance between him and all of them that Keith hadn’t noticed before. He didn’t know if it was because he had technically pulled rank on the older man earlier, or if this was something that had been there for a while, but it made him uneasy.

This was not the same Shiro who basically rescued Keith from the foster system all those years ago.

“Fuck,” Pidge cursed, drawing Keith’s attention back to her. “It’s scopolamine. Or at least something that works the same way.”

“What is it?” Lance asked. “Is-Is Hunk going to be okay?”

“Hunk’s going to be fine,” Pidge said, but her tone was halting, careful. “The drug is kind of like a truth serum. There have been cases where it was used in interrogations during and even after the Second and Third World Wars.”

Both Keith and Lance jumped at this information while Shiro narrowed his eyes. “So that means…” Shiro trailed off, sounding thoughtful.

“It means the Druid almost definitely used it to get information out of Hunk,” Pidge concluded. She stumbled back from the screen and took her glasses off to rub at her eyes.

Allura left Lance’s side to join Pidge where she was standing. She wordlessly embraced the shorter girl.

“Hunk wouldn’t give us up,” Lance insisted. “He wouldn’t.”

“I know he wouldn’t, Lance. We _all_ do,” said Shiro, sounding defeated. “But scopolamine is a hell of a drug. No matter how hard Hunk might have fought it, it’s very likely that he let something slip.”

Lance shot a glare at him but didn’t say anything.

“And Lotor did say that this Druid is known as the Interrogator,” Allura added quietly.

Pidge reluctantly pulled away from Allura’s arm and took a deep, shuddering breath. “I’ll send a message to Matt, let him know to be on guard for the next few weeks. And we should probably send Dad back to Earth as soon as possible—get him away from all this so Earth will have time to prepare.”

Keith squared his shoulders. He gave Hunk one last look before declaring, “I’ll let Kolivan know, too.”

* * *

The first thing Hunk registered as consciousness slowly crept up to him was the rush of warm air enveloping his body. _Huh, that’s strange_ , he thought idly.

The Druid never bothered with manipulating the temperature in the lab. Hunk wondered if this was a new experiment or…

He swallowed.

...or the next phase of this torture.

But then he heard the creaking metallic hiss of a door sliding open, which was followed by two hands gently pulling him down, and the familiar sensation of panic set in.

He threw his arms out blindly, feeling his elbows knock into someone. “Get away from me!” he shouted, even though he knew by now that his efforts were useless. The Druid had kept his promise.

_I always get what I want and there is nothing you can do to stop me._

But to Hunk’s surprise, the hands instantly retracted from him. He kept his eyes shut anyway. He knew what was waiting for him. It was going to be either the Druid or another twisted version of Keith.

Or, if he was feeling especially sadist, a combination of both.

Those were the worst.

He crouched down on the floor and hid behind the circle of his arms. Months ago, he would have been ashamed of showing this much weakness in front of the Galra but he didn’t care about that anymore. He just wanted this nightmare to be over.

“Hunk, it’s alright! It’s me, buddy, Lance.”

_Lance?_

Hunk carefully peeked up from his arms. Lance was kneeling in front of him, a watery smile on his face. He looked tired, more tired than the time they stayed awake for nearly thirty-six hours straight while they essentially played the universe’s deadliest hide-and-seek game with Zarkon. His skin was oily and there were bags beneath his eyes, as well as a tiny pimple on his chin. _That’s weird, Lance is usually really careful about his skincare_ , Hunk thought.

That was when he finally looked beyond Lance’s shoulders to take in the rest of the room. It took a few seconds for him to recognize that it was the med bay, and another few seconds to realize that he must be in one of the healing pods.

But more importantly, it was all so _blue_. There wasn’t a single hint of purple in the room.

And, standing a few feet behind Lance were Allura, Pidge, and Coran, all of whom were staring at Hunk worriedly.

 _This...isn’t a dream_ , Hunk realized, feeling his breath hitch. Unadulterated happiness hit him like a mallet first. Because he was _finally_ back home. His friends really _did_ come for him.

But, just as quickly as it came, the relief disappeared as he realized what his friends were seeing.

Him, huddling on the floor like the fucking coward he was because he couldn’t tell the fucking difference between what was real and what wasn’t.

He saw Lance’s eyes widen in alarm before he felt the tears in his own eyes. Before he knew it, Lance’s arms were wrapped tightly around him and his head was being guided to rest on the other boy’s shoulder. “Shh, it’s okay,” Lance hummed. “You’re safe now, I promise.”

Hunk took a shuddering breath before letting the tears fall without abandon. He clutched the back of Lance’s shirt like a lifeline, burying his head deeper in the crook between his friend’s neck and shoulder to muffle his sobs.

“I’m sorry,” he choked. “He—He kept asking me about the Blade and the rebels a-and I tried to resist but—”

A hand started brushing his hair. It wasn’t Lance, because Lance was currently running both of his hands up and down Hunk’s back soothingly, and these hands were smaller and softer. He glanced up and met Allura’s gaze.

There was no judgement in them, though, just sorrow. “It’s alright, Hunk, we know,” she said. She sounded like she meant it, too.

“What the Druid did to you…” said Coran hoarsely, “...it was unconscionable and absolutely in _no way_ your fault, do you understand that?”

Pidge dropped down on Allura’s other side and squeezed one of his hands. Her copper brown eyes were shining with tears. “You’re back home now and that’s all that matters.”

And Hunk wanted nothing more than to believe her.

* * *

Hunk never thought that he would miss food goo as much as he did until he took his first bite. He remembered being fed when he was on the Galra ship, at least, but it was always just so he would have enough energy to undergo the Druid’s next torture session. He tried to resist once but the sentries had simply injected him with that fucking drug and waited for his hunger to do their job for them.

(He’d stopped resisting after that.)

He didn’t even bother trying to slow himself down as he devoured the entire bowl in almost five minutes flat while trying to pretend that he wasn’t aware of the way his friends were watching him, like he was on the verge of a breakdown.

“None of us really had the time to cook since...well, you know,” Pidge explained lamely when he finished eating.

“And in _some_ people’s cases, we just didn’t have the skill,” Lance added, gracefully steering the conversation back to a lighter one. He nudged Allura playfully.

Allura pouted at him but Hunk could tell from the way her lips were twitching upwards that she was more amused than offended. “What are you implying, Lance?” she asked.

“Nothing! _Buuut_ I think it’s worth mentioning that people who can’t even make something as simple as hot chocolate probably shouldn’t be allowed in the kitchen without supervision.”

“It was just a _small_ fire!”

“Platt got his tail singed,” Pidge pointed out bluntly, gesturing to the mouse in question.

All four of the mice gave Allura an unimpressed look. Allura responded by folding her arms with a huff and looking away. Lance winked at the mice.

Hunk felt something in his chest loosen. This was good—being back with his friends, and chatting and joking with them, which was exactly what they had been doing before he got captured.

The sooner he got back into the swing of things and put the whole horrible incident behind him, the better.

“Really? I know I was only gone for a month or so, but you must have had _some_ spare time,” Hunk chuckled.

When he looked up, everyone was staring at him in horror. He swallowed. “What?”

“Hunk,” Coran said slowly, “you were only gone for a week.”

Hunk felt his blood go cold.

_A week._

“O-Oh,” he gulped. “Really? Because...it felt longer than that sometimes.” He could have _sworn_ he had been on that damn surgical table alone for weeks at a time.

Allura delicately placed her hand over his and gave him a searching look. “What happened, Hunk?”

He looked away but didn’t pull his hand away.

How could he explain that, technically, _nothing_ happened? They already knew that he got drugged and essentially sold the Coalition out to the Galra like the pathetic coward he was. What else was there?

_Don’t you love me? Don’t you want to make me happy?_

He shut his eyes against the image of Keith ( _not Keith, not Keith, not Keith_ ) smiling down at him, revealing rows of sharp teeth, that assaulted him.

No, he couldn’t tell them about what he saw. If they didn’t think he was weak already, they would almost certainly think so once he told them about that.

“Hunk?” Lance pressed. Hunk looked up to find his brows creased in concern and felt something constrict his chest.

He forced himself to smile. “I-It’s nothing. The Druid—um, he used his magic on me sometimes. Made me...see things that weren’t there.” It was technically true. Hunk knew that, if he tried to outright lie, Lance and maybe Pidge would see past his bullshit instantly. “Just monsters and things like that.”

“You were really shaken up when Keith and I found you,” Pidge noted hesitantly.

Hunk’s cheeks grew hot. _Keith was there?_ Hunk hadn’t been sure what was going on when he was being rescued. He remembered hearing Keith and Pidge’s voices, and strong arms cradling him, but everything else was so hazy that he thought he had finally lost it and was hallucinating his own escape.

The fact that that wasn’t what happened, that _Keith_ had witnessed him losing it like a crazy person was absolutely humiliating.

The kitchen doors slid open then, revealing none other than Keith standing on the other side, just to make things a little bit worse than they already were.

Hunk’s heart jumped to his throat. Any lingering doubts he had about this being another one of the Druid’s twisted illusions vanished. Keith was in his Blade uniform, which the Druid never put him in for some reason, and there was a mottled bruise along his jaw. Hunk didn’t remember the bounty hunter injuring him there but either way, Keith was always perfect in his dreams.

But, somehow, standing under the kitchen’s too-bright, unflattering fluorescent light and looking like he lost a fight with a wall, he looked just as gorgeous as ever.

“Hey, there you guys are, so I just talked to Kolivan and—” Keith broke off when his eyes landed on Hunk and visibly swallowed. “Hunk! I didn’t realize you were out already.”

Hunk shrugged nonchalantly. “Yeah, well, here I am.” He winced as soon as the words left his mouth. _Wow, that was lame, even for you_ , he thought to himself.

But Keith didn’t seem to notice or care because he gave Hunk a small smile that warmed his chest. “I’m glad you’re okay,” he said in that same sincere, if somewhat awkward tone that Hunk found ridiculously endearing.

Lance suddenly cleared his throat and shot to his feet, dragging Allura up with him. “Well, would you look at the time! Allura and I need to get going if we want to get in some time on the training deck. Allura, you said you were going to show me some more Altean broadsword moves?”

Allura just looked confused, which mirrored what Hunk was feeling right now. “But we already…” Lance gave her a pointed look and jerked his head at Keith, then to Hunk, and then back to Keith.

_Oh no. Oh no, no, no._

Hunk didn’t know what Lance was up to but he had a good idea that it had something to do with his…‘Keith thing’. And he didn’t appreciate it one bit.

To his horror, Allura seemed to have figured it out, too, because her eyes widened in realization and a faint blush dusted across her cheeks. “I-I mean yes! I did, didn’t I? And Coran, didn’t you have a maintenance check scheduled for today?”

Coran immediately caught onto what was happening because he practically leaped out of his seat. “Yes, that’s right, Princess! This Castle won’t run itself, after all.” He hauled Pidge up by her arm, garnering an indignant yelp. “Number Five! You’re not busy right now, are you?” Without waiting for her to answer, he continued, “Excellent, you can assist me then!”

“But I—”

Hunk tried to interrupt, “Guys, I swear—”

The four of them rushed out of the kitchen with impressive speed, leaving Hunk and Keith alone behind them.

“Oookay,” Keith said, blinking as the door shut behind the traitors with an ominous ‘click.’ “That was weird.”

 _You have no idea._ “Yeah, that’s our friends, alright,” Hunk sighed, burying his face in his hands in embarrassment. “Um, you can go, too, if you want. You’ve probably got a ton of Blade business on your plate right now.”

“Yeah,” Keith said slowly. But his steps began to move closer to Hunk instead of away like he expected. Hunk looked up when he heard him take Allura’s spot so that they were now sitting across from each other. “But that can wait. How…” he gulped, looking uncharacteristically unsure and timid.

Honestly, it threw Hunk off.

“How are you?” Keith’s voice was so, so soft. “Coran said that there shouldn’t be any side effects from the drug that the Druid gave you, but…”

 _He’s concerned about_ me, Hunk realized. He didn’t know what to do with that information.

“I’m fine,” he lied, wringing his hands together nervously.

Neither of them said anything for a long time.

Finally, Keith continued, “I’m sorry.”

Hunk’s jaw dropped. Out of all the things he expected Keith to say, the apology...wasn’t it. “For what?”

Keith shuffled awkwardly in his seat and his eyes darted to the table. “For getting you captured. If I’d been more careful—”

Nope, Hunk was going to stop that right there. “If it weren’t you, it would’ve been me anyway,” he swallowed. He hated that it was the truth but he couldn’t _not_ acknowledge it. Not when Keith—the beautiful, rebellious, self-sacrificing idiot that he was—was going to blame himself for something that was out of his control. It was Hunk’s decision and he was going to own it.

(Would he still have given himself up in exchange for Keith if he knew what was waiting for him? He honestly couldn’t say but if there was one thing he knew, it was that he would rather die than willingly let Keith go through the same hell he did.)

“Still.” Keith took a deep shuddering breath and slowly, so slowly, lifted his head to meet Hunk’s gaze. Hunk had never seen him look this solemn before, at least not in front of him. “Lance—um, he told me...why you might’ve...done that,” he said haltingly. “He...He said that you have feelings...for me.”

Hunk felt all the food goo he just ate churn violently in his stomach, threatening to come right back up.

 _I’m going to murder Lance_ , he thought faintly.

He somehow managed to reply, with only the tiniest squeak in his voice, “Y-Yeah. What about it?”

Keith exhaled but didn’t look away. His hair was getting longer, Hunk noticed. “I don’t—you shouldn’t have done that.”

Hunk almost wanted to laugh. _Yeah, too late for that, buddy._

It wasn’t a matter of ‘shoulds’ and ‘shouldn’ts’. Hunk didn’t think he _could_ have stood by while Keith’s life was being threatened. “I did what I had to do,” he said with a note of finality in his tone. “Look, I know you would have done the same…” _For Shiro, at least._ “...so just...forget about it. I’m back now, you’re fine, we’re all fine. Let’s just move on, okay?”

Keith looked like he wanted to protest but something in Hunk’s face stopped him. Hunk dearly wanted to know what it was he saw.

He nodded and slowly stood up. “Okay, if that’s what you want.” He chewed on his lower lip. “But I think we should stop...you know, our… _thing_.”

“You mean the sex?” Hunk couldn’t help blurting out.

They both flinched.

“Yeah, that,” Keith eventually said. “It’s...I don’t want to take advantage of you anymore.”

 _Don’t cry, don’t cry, don’t you_ dare _cry._ “You weren’t,” Hunk told him firmly, even as he felt his heart breaking. “I didn’t—I wasn’t expecting your feelings to change just because mine are...the way they are. It was just sex.” The words sounded hollow to his ears.

He always suspected this day would come. He just hadn’t expected...everything else that came with it.

“Hunk…”

He had to look away, knowing that he was likely going to burst into tears if he continued looking at Keith’s stupidly beautiful face for one second longer. He didn’t want to see the pity in his eyes. “It’s okay,” he forced himself to say. It _was_ , and he was going to make it so. “I get it, really.”

The silence laid between them like a yawning abyss that went on and on and on. Hunk had never felt so far away from Keith.

Eventually, Keith stood up and started making his way to the door, inevitably taking him by Hunk’s side.

Hunk jolted in shock when he felt the other boy’s hand on his shoulder. It was warm, like a low hearthfire at midnight.

No, this was undeniably _not_ one of the Druid’s tricks. None of them could ever hurt him as much as the real thing.

“You’re still important to me. You know that, right?” Keith asked, almost begging. There was nothing but honesty in his voice.

Hunk did. But that didn’t stop the ache in his heart from spreading, nearly consuming him. It took some effort, but he managed to smile up at Keith. “I know.”

Keith’s eyes searched his face for a few more seconds before continuing towards the door. Hunk didn’t know what he had been looking for or if he even found it, but he certainly wasn’t going to ask.

Keith stopped just before the threshold and sent him one last look. “Well, um, give me a shout if you ever want to talk or anything.”

Hunk gave him a rough nod even though he knew that he was never going to take him up on the offer. “Yeah, sure thing.”

As soon as the doors closed behind Keith, Hunk dropped his smile and dragged one of his legs up to his chest. He buried his face in his knee and sobbed.

* * *

Allura bit her lip as she watched Keith trail after Kolivan towards their ship. It was always hard to see Keith leave on a Blade mission, especially one as dangerous as Kolivan implied this one was going to be, and now…

She glanced at Hunk, who was currently in the middle of an animated conversation with Lance and one of the Blades, and narrowed her eyes. Hunk’s clothes still hung a bit more loosely on him than they had before his capture, but he was noticeably gaining his weight back, which they were all relieved to see. There were dark circles under his eyes that spoke of little sleep but Hunk insisted that it was because he was still in the process of re-adjusting to the Castle. _Nothing to worry about_ , he’d told them with a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes.

“This is a mess,” Allura whispered to Plachu, who chittered in agreement from where he was sitting on her shoulder.

The mice had stayed behind during the half varga Hunk and Keith were alone together in the kitchen, reporting what happened to Allura afterwards. They hadn’t been able to recount exactly what the two of them had talked about, but Allura had gathered enough details to make her own guess.

She didn’t think Keith’s decision was _wrong_ , given what she knew of their...arrangement (which hadn’t been much, considering she only found out about it when Lance screamed about it in Keith’s face in front of _everyone_ ), but something in her heart told her that there was another choice that he could have made. She just didn’t know what it was.

(It was the same something in her heart that stuttered whenever she met Lance’s gaze, no matter how far apart they were in a room.)

Kolivan quietly approached her. “Princess, by your leave,” he said. Keith stood behind him, looking so, so terribly small compared to the other Blades.

Father once told her, “ _There is no victory when you bring children into war._ ”

( _But you left me, Father. You left me behind and you’ve been dead for over ten millennia, why should I listen to you?_ )

Allura nodded and turned to Keith. She stepped forward and threw her arms around him. He stiffened but didn’t push her away. “Stay safe,” she whispered to him.

Keith huffed and patted her back. “I’ll try.”

Allura appreciated that he didn’t bother trying to promise something that they all knew was impossible.

They let go of each other and Allura watched as he approached the other Paladins, starting with Shiro.

Shiro had seemed just as happy as the rest of them when he saw Hunk out of the healing pod, even going so far as to give him a warm hug. But to Allura’s eyes, it looked almost perfunctory. Hunk didn’t seem to notice that anything was wrong, though, so she held her tongue.

“Don’t be a stranger,” chuckled Shiro, drawing Keith into a hug.

Keith blushed. It was faint but Allura could see it illuminating his pale face like a beacon. His feelings for Shiro had never been a secret, but now, in the face of what had happened with Hunk, there was an element of tragedy to the whole business.

Hunk pointedly kept his face turned away but Allura didn’t miss the way his fists were clenched at his sides.

“I won’t,” said Keith, giving Shiro a soft smile that contradicted his otherwise fiery personality.

He moved onto Pidge next, who tackled him in a hug that nearly knocked him to the ground. “Don’t stay away too long, okay? Or else I’m gonna let Lance burn your jacket,” she sniffed.

Keith chuckled. “If he does, I’ll burn his. And I’ll get Red to help.”

Lance let out an indignant squawk that garnered a scattering of snickers from some of the Blades. “I’m _right_ here!”

Keith grinned as he headed towards him and Hunk. “Yeah, so?”

He and Lance didn’t hug. Instead, they simply shook hands and clapped each other manfully on the shoulders. “Just don’t die, okay? Otherwise, I’ll come after you myself and give you a black eye to match that shiner on your face.”

Keith snorted and punched him lightly in the arm. “Big words coming from a guy who punches like a baby.”

Lance’s fingers twitched threateningly towards his bayard but he had a matching grin on his face. “Don’t push it, buddy.”

Allura quirked her brow at Pidge in a silent question, to which the younger girl simply responded with a shrug and mouthed, _boys will be boys._

Then Keith turned to Hunk and the playful grin on his face softened into a shy, almost nervous smile. “Hey.”

Hunk gave him a guarded one in return. “Hey.”

Keith rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. “Will—uh, will you be alright?”

Hunk hunched his shoulders up to his ears, almost defensively, and twisted his hands together. “Yeah, I’ll be fine. I mean, I’ve got Lance and the others, so it’s not like I’ll be alone.” Distantly, they all heard the familiar roar of a Lion. Hunk’s shoulders relaxed and his smile turned wry. “And Yellow. Can’t forget him.”

Keith relaxed, too. “Good. That’s...good.”

Neither of them said anything else for a few moments, as if waiting for something else to happen between them. It reminded Allura of an Earthling saying that Lance taught her a while ago. Something about shoes being dropped.

Eventually, Keith raised his arms and moved forward for what Allura guessed was a hug.

Hunk flinched.

Something that looked terribly like fear—real, utter fear—flashed in his eyes, like he was anticipating being burned any second. Allura had seen Hunk scared plenty of times before, but not like this.

Keith froze. “Hunk?” he asked hesitantly. “What’s wrong?”

Hunk ducked his head and exhaled shakily before meeting Keith’s gaze again. The grin on his face was far too wide to be comforting. “N-Nothing! Sorry, I was just startled, I guess.”

Allura looked to Lance, who was frowning at Hunk in the way that meant he was trying to solve a puzzle but didn’t quite have all the pieces yet.

Before Keith could respond, Hunk patted him on the shoulder. “Anyway, you should get going. Those Galra asses aren’t going to kick themselves, are they?”

And Keith, bless him, could do nothing but blink. “Um, yeah.”

Hunk was the first one out of the hangar once the Blade’s ship took off, followed by Shiro, who looked like his mind was already on their next Coalition-related mission.

Allura exchanged worried looks with Lance and Pidge, both of whom looked just as concerned about what they had just witnessed.

Something was wrong with Hunk and they had no idea what it was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Er, in my defense, the "slow burn" tag has been up there since the beginning!


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance and Pidge were already waiting for him outside of Yellow’s hangar when he returned to the Castle. Hunk had no idea what Lance saw in his face, but, after taking one look at him, he declared, “That’s it, it’s sleepover time.” Before Hunk could do anything, he was pushing Hunk into the elevator. He pressed the button that would take them to the observation deck.
> 
> “It’s the middle of the day,” Pidge told him, but she sounded more amused than annoyed.
> 
> Lance scoffed and waved his hand dismissively at her. “Fine, then we’ll call it a pillowfort team building exercise. Happy now?”
> 
> “Your naming conventions could use a little more work,” Pidge snickered, “but I _suppose_ that’s not an inaccurate description.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a bit of an interlude and takes place during the Team Voltron segments of "Bloodlines", but with some very obvious changes. The next chapter will cover the Keith segments aka "Keith's (Not-So) Fun Space Whale Adventure".
> 
> I just want to mention how much I appreciate everyone's feedback to this fic so far! It's easily turning out to be the longest thing I've ever written and I hope you continue to enjoy it!

Hunk blinked and seriously considered sticking a finger into his ear to check for earwax. “Sorry, did you just say we’re allied with the _Galra Empire?_ ”

They had sent Pidge’s dad back to Earth in one of the Altean pods with little fanfare earlier and were now on their way to meet with Lotor, who Hunk just learned was not only no longer under house arrest in the Castle, but was also now in charge of the entire Galra Empire. He had to pinch himself—hard—to make sure that he wasn’t dreaming.

Allura winced but it was Shiro who smoothly replied, “We’re allied with _Lotor_. He was a great asset during your rescue mission and he’s offered us complete access to the Empire’s database. This is exactly what the Coalition needs to win the war.”

“But I thought we were at war _against_ the Empire?” Hunk asked.

“That’s what I said, too,” Lance muttered darkly under his breath, just loud enough for Hunk to hear.

“Plans change,” Shiro stated matter-of-factly. “Our primary goal is still the liberation of all the planets the Galra enslaved but we need to be smart about it now instead of just going in guns blazing like we usually do.”

Pidge raised her hand. “For the record, I _liked_ the ‘guns blazing’ method. It’s worked pretty well for us so far.” Shiro shot her a dirty look, at which she merely raised her eyebrow.

“ _Anyway,_ ” Shiro continued, “that means we’re heading to Galra Central Command. Lotor will be expecting us.”

“This is nuts,” Hunk said. “I mean—even if I hadn’t been caught…” Hunk would be lying if he said he didn’t take vindictive pleasure in seeing Shiro flinch at that. “...does no one else think it’s shady that we’re suddenly turning around to collaborate with the oppressors of most of the known universe for the last ten thousand years? Especially since the whole _point_ of Voltron is to fight this kind of oppression?”

“ _Thank_ you,” said Lance, earning a glare from Shiro.

Allura sighed, looking far older than she had any right to be, even if she was technically a ten thousand year old alien princess. “You’re not wrong,” she said slowly, “but Shiro also has a point. Now that Lotor is on the throne and amiable to working with us, we have to do everything we can to support him. This is our chance to promote peace and put a stop to the Galra who are still terrorizing planets.”

“Like the Fire of Purification,” Pidge added. She tapped something on her screen, bringing up a blurry picture of a familiar one-eyed Galra on the main screen of the bridge. “Led by, of-fucking-course, Sendak. They’re not too much of a threat yet but Matt started hearing chatter about them after the Kral Zera—none of it’s been good.”

Hunk still wasn’t completely sure he understood what happened at the so-called Kral Zera—or even what it was—but he didn’t think he wanted to. All he knew was that Shiro had brought Lotor there against Allura’s orders and Lotor was now Emperor.

“Does anyone else have any objections?” Shiro asked, sweeping a stony gaze across the bridge. When no one else spoke up, he continued, “If not, the plan remains the same: we’re going to Galra Central Command and that’s the end of that.”

And Hunk really did think that he was ready for it. After all, he had been to the heart of the Galra’s forces twice now and had come out alive—if a little scarred—both times. He still didn’t trust Lotor as far as he could throw him (which, granted, probably wouldn’t be a lot anyway), but he trusted Shiro and Allura’s judgment. Even Lance and Pidge, despite their obvious unease, didn’t seem to think there was any danger in going.

 _Just suck it up, dude_ , Hunk told himself.

He even got as far as strapping himself in Yellow (who gave such a loud roar of happiness at his return that Hunk’s ears were still ringing for a good minute afterwards) and flying out of the Castle, just behind Allura in Blue, before his limbs locked up in icy cold terror.

 _I’m more curious about what it takes to break a Paladin_ , the Druid’s voice echoed in Hunk’s mind.

The Central Command Ship disappeared, replaced by the image of the Druid’s white mask, heavily shadowed beneath his hood. And there was so much _purple_ everywhere—

“ _Hunk, what’s going on?_ ” Pidge’s voice cut in. “ _Yellow’s vitals are going crazy and—Hunk, your heart rate’s spiking!_ ”

“ _What?_ ” Lance shouted. Hunk watched as Red abruptly about-faced to stare right at Yellow. “ _Hunk, are you okay?_ ”

 _Your faith is admirable, truly, and I do hope to see more of it. Because I_ will _break it and I’m going to enjoy every second of it._

It was only because of Yellow’s gentle nudges against the back of his mind that Hunk finally realized just how tightly he was gripping the Lion’s controls. He let go, one finger at a time, until his hands were resting on his lap instead.

He forced himself to breathe in time with Yellow’s encouraging rumbles but it took a while to get his breathing back to normal.

“S-Sorry, I don’t think I can do this, you guys,” he said softly, shame filling every pore in his body. For fuck’s sake, it’s been more than a week since his rescue. At this point, he’s been back longer than he had been away, so why was his brain still being so stupid about all of this? “You should go on ahead. I’ll just stay behind in the Castle.”

Surprisingly, it was Shiro who said, “ _That’s okay, Hunk. You’ve been through a lot._ ” He didn’t sound annoyed at all. In fact, he even sounded _understanding_.

“ _Would you like me to come back with you?_ ” Coran asked, his voice taking on what Hunk secretly called his ‘Uncle Coran’ tone.

“ _But Shiro will need your help to cross-reference our star charts with current Galra troop locations,_ ” Allura pointed out reluctantly.

“ _That’s okay, I can go back with Hunk,_ ” Lance piped up breezily. “I don’t think I’ll be of much help to you guys anyway.”

“ _Me too,_ ” added Pidge. “ _I mean, Shiro and Coran are already going to do most of the work in synching our intelligence to Galra headquarters. If I came along, the only thing I’d be good for is pressing some buttons._ ”

Hunk bit his lip. The last thing he wanted right now was to be by himself—by himself and those damn memories—but he also didn’t want to be a burden on his team. “It’s okay. It’s not a big deal, really,” he tried to insist. “I can just hang out with Yellow and the space mice. It’ll be fun.”

But Red and Green were already breaking formation and heading back to the Castle, even overtaking Yellow. And Hunk knew, perhaps better than anyone, that trying to get Lance and Pidge to change their minds once they were made up about something was impossible. Being dragged by wild horses and all that.

Lance and Pidge were already waiting for him outside of Yellow’s hangar when he returned to the Castle. Hunk had no idea what Lance saw in his face, but, after taking one look at him, he declared, “That’s it, it’s sleepover time.” Before Hunk could do anything, he was pushing Hunk into the elevator. He pressed the button that would take them to the observation deck.

“It’s the middle of the day,” Pidge told him, but she sounded more amused than annoyed.

Lance scoffed and waved his hand dismissively at her. “Fine, then we’ll call it a pillowfort team building exercise. Happy now?”

“Your naming conventions could use a little more work,” Pidge snickered, “but I _suppose_ that’s not an inaccurate description.”

The doors to the observation deck slid open and Hunk blinked at what he found inside. He was pretty sure the haphazard pile of pillows, blankets, and sheets hadn’t been there before.

“Uh, has this always been here?” he asked.

“Nope, that was all us,” Pidge chirped. “Well, us and Allura.”

Lance coughed delicately. “After you were...well...we all kind of had trouble sleeping,” he explained. “So, we started having sleepovers.”

Hunk couldn’t help staring at him in surprise. While he never wanted his...absence to negatively affect his friends, he would be lying if he said he hadn’t hoped that it would cause some kind of reaction. He knew it was selfish of him but he couldn’t help it.

But he never thought they’d resort to something like this just because of him. The discovery simultaneously warmed and broke his heart.

“We gave up on putting the set up away after we had our second one in a row,” continued Lance. “Well, technically, we started on the bridge but the observation deck turned out to be much nicer.” He gently pushed Hunk down by the pile and draped a blanket over his shoulders.

“You guys get started on the fort. I’m gonna run to the kitchen to grab some of that fake hot chocolate,” Pidge called out, dumping her laptop on the couch before darting back into the elevator.

“You really don’t have to do this,” Hunk said weakly.

“Maybe, but we want to,” said Lance simply. He started arranging the pillows and sheets around them with the manner of a mother hen.

Comfortable silence descended upon them, occasionally broken by Lance’s steps echoing along the floor. Hunk scanned the foreign constellations outside the window and wondered, not for the first time in quiet moments like this, what Keith was doing right now.

 _You’ve got it_ bad _, Garrett_ , a voice that sounded eerily like his Mama whispered in the back of his head.

He knew it wasn’t healthy to continue thinking about Keith, especially when the other boy had basically rejected him, but his stupid heart apparently hadn’t received the memo yet. Not even the Druid’s tricks seemed to have deterred his feelings completely. Hunk didn’t know what that said about him and his psyche—probably nothing good.

“Penny for your thoughts?” Lance asked, dropping down beside him.

“It’s nothing,” Hunk lied.

Lance frowned at him in the way that meant he didn’t believe Hunk’s answer one bit, but he seemed to pity him enough that he didn’t push, which Hunk was pathetically grateful for. “What was that about earlier? With the Central Command Ship?” he asked instead, voice soft.

Hunk tugged the blanket further up his shoulders and hid his face in it. “I don’t know,” he said honestly. “I just—I just saw the ship and it was like my brain locked up or something.”

“Did you see something? Was it…” Lance gulped, “...like one of the—uh, monsters that the Druid made you see?”

“Sort of,” said Hunk. He couldn’t say that the monster _was_ the Druid. The Druid was dead—Lance, Allura, and Shiro swore that there was nothing left when they were done with the ship.

He was a Paladin of Voltron, and Paladins weren’t— _couldn’t_ be afraid of dead things.

“Was it Keith?”

Hunk spun his head towards Lance, mouth gaping open. _How did Lance know?_ “What?”

Lance shrugged. “I mean, you’ve barely spoken to him, let alone looked at him after your talk…”

“Which _you_ were responsible for, by the way!”

“...so I just figured it had something to do with him.” Lance scooted closer to him. “So, _did_ something happen?”

On the one hand, Hunk was relieved that Lance hadn’t figured out Keith’s connection to the Druid. On the other hand, it was almost worse that he’d managed to figure out that there was something up between Hunk and Keith instead.

Hunk chewed his lip and briefly debated trying to lie again, except he wasn’t sure if Lance was going to drop the subject so easily a second time.

And, if he was honest, he was growing exhausted of keeping secrets from his friends. It felt like the more secrets and white lies he collected, the more they chipped away at him. He was half afraid that there would be nothing left of him by the time they made it back to Earth.

“Keith and I...we decided to stop...you know…” Hunk trailed off, unable to make himself say the words, ‘he kinda-sorta dumped me’.

But Lance seemed to hear them anyway because his gaze turned sympathetic. “Aw, shit, I’m sorry, Hunk.”

“Yeah, well…” he murmured. “He said that he didn’t want to ‘take advantage’ of me anymore.” He gave Lance a pointed look.

Thankfully, Lance didn’t need any more prompting as understanding dawned in his eyes. He winced and rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. “Ah,” was all he said.

Hunk narrowed his eyes at him. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Er, I _may_ have reacted badly after you were...you know.”

“And that’s when you told him about my feelings?”

“Uh, something like that.”

Hunk has known Lance long enough to know, judging from the embarrassed expression on his face, that he was very likely leaving a few details out. Hunk crossed his arms over his chest, leaned back against the couch, and waited.

Lance broke after five seconds. “Aaand I may have accidentally spilled the beans to the rest of the team. And I may have also punched Keith in the face.”

“You did _what_?” Hunk shrieked, mortified. The appearance of the mysterious bruise on Keith’s face made much more sense now. “You can’t just go around punching my crush in the face! How would you feel if I tried that with Allura?”

“Okay, first of all, I know you would never do that to Allura because you’re both angels. Second of all, do you really think that she’d actually let you get a hit in? And thirdly, I refuse to apologize for that because he deserved it.”

“It wasn’t his fault that I gave myself up!”

“No, but it was his fault that you felt you _had_ to do it in the first place!”

Hunk reeled back as if physically struck. That...was not what he thought Lance would say. “What?”

Lance exhaled shakily, like he’d just run a mile. “Look, I know that what happened wasn’t Keith’s fault, but you were _gone_ and I was so scared and angry, I—all I could think about was our last conversation about him. I know Keith’s a good guy and I’m not mad at him anymore, but he still deserved that for making you feel like shit.”

“He didn’t know,” Hunk whispered gently, feeling all the air in his lungs leave him in a whirlwind.

Lance snorted derisively. “Oh, trust me, he knew. He just didn’t want to see it.”

Hunk tried to imagine what he would have done if he knew this half a month ago. Would he have still offered himself up instead of Keith if he knew?

 _Yes_ , he realized. Because none of it mattered.

He was the one who had been too weak to push Keith away when he first kissed him, to refuse to take things further after that. Maybe Keith did use him, if unintentionally, but Hunk couldn’t say that he didn’t do the same.

He loved Keith and he would do anything to protect him.

He sighed and hugged his knees to his chest. “Fine, but I’m still mad at you for blabbing about my crush to the whole team,” he said, only meaning it half-heartedly. Lance was his best friend—he could never stay mad at him.

Besides, it wasn’t like they had been subtle, either. Coran, at least, had almost caught them making out in the kitchen and other dark corners of the Castle a few times.

“Don’t forget Lotor, Kolivan, and pretty much half the Blade,” Pidge’s voice piped up from the door. She was carrying a tray with three steaming mugs of what smelled like Hunk’s recipe for alien hot chocolate. “Lance hadn’t exactly been quiet.”

“Wait, _what_?” Hunk squeaked, face growing warm. “What the hell, Lance?”

“Wow, thanks for throwing me under the bus there, Pidge,” Lance muttered.

* * *

When Coran entered the observation deck, it was to find Lance and Pidge knocked out on top of the mess they dubbed their ‘pillowfort’, sandwiching Hunk between them.

Hunk, who was stirring fitfully in his sleep, groaning and furrowing his brows. “No...please...stop.”

Coran was instantly by his feet and gently shaking him awake. “It’s alright, Hunk. It’s just a dream,” he whispered.

Hunk kicked at him, knocking him onto the floor and winding him briefly. “Get away from me!” His limbs were flailing violently under his blanket, threatening to hit either Lance or Pidge at any moment.

Coran quickly recovered and grabbed his legs to hold him down. “Hunk,” he said more loudly, “Wake up. You’re having a nightmare.”

Slowly, Hunk’s eyes blinked open. They were frighteningly unfocused at first but eventually settled on Coran. “C’ran?” Hunk rasped. “This is new.”

“What is, my boy?”

Hunk shook his head and groggily pushed himself up to a sitting position. On either side of him, Lance and Pidge were still, miraculously enough, sound asleep. “The Druid n’ver showed you before. Jus’ Keith.”

_The Druid used his magic on me sometimes. Made me see things that weren’t there._

Coran felt a part of his heart shatter. It was easy to forget, sometimes, that Hunk, Lance, Pidge, and Allura were still children at the end of it all. Children who had been put through trials that not even Alfor and the Paladins of old had even dreamed of.

“This is real, Hunk,” Coran said, raising his voice a little to pierce through the dream fog in Hunk’s eyes. “It’s me, Coran.”

“Huh?”

Hunk blinked rapidly as his eyes scanned the room. Coran could almost see the fog beginning to lift but it still took some time before comprehension actually dawned in Hunk’s dark brown eyes. It must have only taken a few seconds but they felt far too long for Coran’s comfort.

“C-Coran?” Hunk hiccuped, sounding more terrified than Coran had ever heard him in the movements they have known each other. “Where am I?” he gasped, sounding like he was on the verge of hyperventilating.

Coran led him to sit on the couch, just far enough away from where Lance and Pidge were sleeping that they wouldn’t risk disturbing them. “You’re back in the Castle. It is now currently three o’clock in the morning according to your Earth hours,” he said calmly, referring to the time keeping device Hunk and Pidge had installed on all their tablets during their first few quintants in the Castle.

He gently touched Hunk’s wrist, wincing when he registered how fast his pulse was. “Now, why don’t we work on getting your breathing back to normal, hmm? Just listen to the sound of my voice and breathe with me, my boy. Inhale…exhale...inhale…”

Hunk still looked distracted but some part of him seemed to hear what Coran was saying, because the boy obediently breathed along with Coran until his pulse slowed down to its normal rate.

“There. How are we feeling?” Coran asked.

“B-Better,” Hunk stammered. He turned to Coran with bright wet eyes. “I...Did I kick you just now?” He looked so horrified with himself that Coran was tempted to lie.

But he didn’t. Because he knew, perhaps more than anyone on this old ship, that even the smallest lies and secrets had a tendency of coming to light in the worst possible ways.

However, that didn’t mean he couldn’t bend the truth just a little. “Oh, that? That was barely even a lovetap!” he smiled. “We Alteans are made of sterner stuff than you Earthlings, you know.” He curled his arm for emphasis.

Hunk, thank the Ancients, seemed to believe him. “That’s...That’s good,” he said, sounding relieved.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, watching the stars pass them by, before Coran cleared his throat. “Would you...like to talk about what just happened?”

Hunk’s shoulders stiffened and he ducked his head. “It was just a nightmare.” He rubbed his arms self-consciously. “It’s no big deal, really,” he said, repeating the very words he told the team just a few hours ago when they were on their way to Galra Central Command.

Coran was at war with himself. A part of him, the part that had stood by Alfor’s side since he was a prince, wanted to push. There was a darkness in Hunk now and, as much as he wished it weren’t so, that darkness needed an outlet. Maybe not today or tomorrow, but soon, before it consumed his soul.

Yet, another part of Coran, the part that had watched Allura grow from the infant he used to be able to hold in one arm to the warrior she was now, couldn’t bear putting this boy through any more suffering if he could help it.

But Hunk soon took his decision away from him. “How did things with Lotor go?”

“Good,” Coran replied. “Allura and Lotor apparently found something while going through the witch’s research—some sort of map, I believe. Allura is planning on heading to the coordinates tomorrow—or, I suppose, later today would be more accurate.”

“Huh, I wonder what it is.”

Coran shrugged. “Who is to say?” He placed a delicate hand on Hunk’s back. “Anyway, you should get some rest. It looks like it’s going to be a long day tomorrow.”

Hunk shook his head. “That’s okay. I’m actually pretty wide awake now, so I’ll probably just catch up on some personal projects.” He nudged Coran’s hand off his back. “You should get some sleep, though.”

“Are you sure? I could whip up some Benbownian tea. It’ll knock you right out!”

Hunk paled. “Maybe next time,” he said meekly. “Besides, I think I’ve had enough mind-altering substances to last me for the rest of my life.”

 _That’s right_ , Coran remembered, feeling as if a dark storm cloud was passing over his heart, _the hyoscine._

Hunk knocked his shoulder against Coran’s. “Go on. You said it yourself; tomorrow’s going to be a long day.”

Coran sighed but reluctantly got up from the couch. As easygoing as Hunk generally was, he knew that the younger boy could be just as stubborn as the other Paladins when he wanted to be. “You’ll let me know if you need anything? My door is always open.”

Hunk waved him away with a too-wide grin that reminded Coran disappointingly of the ones that Alfor used to give him when he was lying about something. The last time he saw it was when his king promised that everything was going to be fine, just before sealing him inside the cryopod.

“I will,” said Hunk.

Coran made a mental note to check on Hunk again in a few hours as he left the observation deck. But, as the doors shut behind him, he remembered something disturbing that Hunk said while he was still in the throes of his nightmare.

_The Druid never showed you before. Just Keith._

_What did he mean by that_ , Coran wondered with a growing maw in his chest.

* * *

Despite the lack of power in the Castle, Pidge’s glare still managed to cut through the darkness like a knife. “Lance, I love you, but I am _this_ close to electrocuting you if you don’t shut up and stop freaking out right now.” She turned to Shiro. “Shiro, can you take Lance, _please?_ ”

Lance looked like he was about to protest, if the way his shoulders stiffened was any indication, but deflated when Pidge simply narrowed her eyes at him. He sighed in exasperation, “Fine, I’m going, I’m going.” He didn’t even spare a glance at Shiro as he made his way through the doors.

Shiro let out a quiet sigh as he followed the younger boy. Lance hadn’t technically said anything yet but Shiro knew that he was still angry with him for the Kral Zera.

He wasn’t going to apologize for that because he knew he ultimately did the right thing. It was in the best interest of their team.

But that didn’t mean he didn’t feel some remorse for causing his team so much pain.

_~~Why did he care so much about what his team felt? He accomplished his task, didn’t he? Was that not all there was?~~ _

_No_ , he thought, squeezing his eyes shut and pinching the bridge of his nose to dispel the by now terribly familiar stirrings of a migraine. _No, they’re my team. My—My friends. Of course I care about them._

In the back of his mind, he heard Black rumble softly in approval.

(Distantly, he thought he heard a voice—was it his own?—whisper, “ _They are more than that, they’re_ family.”)

“It’s okay, Shiro,” Lance said tonelessly, slumping against the opposite wall. “You don’t have to babysit me.”

Shiro shook his head and tentatively asked, “Hey, Lance, can I ask you something?”

Lance glanced over his shoulder at him with a skeptical raised eyebrow.

He swallowed. “Do you remember, on Olkarion, how you asked me about talking to you from inside Voltron?”

“Yeah...”

“What happened there? I can’t remember any of it.” Shiro dropped his gaze to the ground as those words left his mouth. He didn’t know why but he felt ashamed that he hadn’t been able to share something so intimate with them.

He was the Black Paladin of Voltron, the head—shouldn’t _he_ , of all people, have been there with them?

“We were all in some mystical Voltron mindspace and you were yelling something but I couldn’t hear you,” Lance told him, slowly turning around to face him fully. “Are you okay?”

“I—I don’t know,” Shiro admitted. “My head. I’m just...I’m feeling so confused. It’s like…”

“What?”

Shiro paused. He could feel Black urging him to say the words that have been clawing at his throat since Keith found him in that Galra ship but, at the same time, he could also feel a noose around his neck, threatening.

He reached for Black. “...Like I’m not myself,” he said, looking straight into Lance’s robin egg eyes.

The space between Lance’s brows creased in concern and, for the first time in weeks, he wasn’t looking at Shiro like he wanted to toss him into the airlock. “It’s probably just lack of oxygen,” he said. “You should sit down. We’ll get through this.”

Shiro obeyed and joined Lance on the floor, because what else could he do?

They sat in somewhat awkward silence for a few minutes until Shiro cleared his throat. “I’m sorry.”

Lance tilted his head curiously at him. “About what?” he asked, voice guarded.

“About how I’ve been...acting the past few days.”

 _Because, hey, at least_ someone _was willing to fuck you, even if it wasn’t Shiro, right?_

Shiro winced as he recalled the aftermath of Hunk’s capture. He had been meaning to talk to Keith about it, about whatever his feelings for him were, but time just...seemed to always somehow slip away from him.

Lance sighed, sounding resigned. “It’s okay, Shiro. I know you’ve been having headaches.”

Shiro shook his head. He didn’t know why but he suddenly, desperately _needed_ Lance to know the truth.

_~~And what is the truth?~~ _

“No, it’s not that—not exactly.” He exhaled. “As glad as I am that we have Lotor on our side now…”

Lance hissed, obviously still concerned about Allura, but didn’t interrupt.

“...I shouldn’t have acted the way I did—to all of you. I wanted Hunk back just as much as the rest of you but I know now that I could have gone about it better. So, I’m sorry.”

There was still a fire in Lance’s gaze that threatened to burn down everything in his path but it wasn’t as harsh now as it had been a minute ago. “Thank you,” Lance eventually said in a terse voice. “Look, I’m not gonna lie, I’m still pissed about us indirectly putting Lotor on the throne—and I’m still _really_ pissed about the way you handled everything else, but...I appreciate your apology.”

He sighed again. “Do you remember what you told us in Blue back before this whole thing started? Before we arrived at the Castle?” At Shiro’s nod, he continued, “You said that we’re a team now, that we’re supposed to make decisions _together_ rather than separately.” His gaze darted to the floor. “Well, if that’s what a team is, we haven’t really felt like one for a long time.”

Shiro flinched and had to look away. He clenched his fist. “I’m sorry,” he said. It was the only thing he could think to say.

Neither of them said anything for a few minutes until Lance finally broke the silence. “Just...promise me that you’ll try? We all miss being a team—an _actual_ team—and I think it would really help if we went back to that.”

_~~What was the point?~~ _

Shiro quickly shook his head to clear the ugly thoughts that had sprung up. “Yeah,” he said. “I promise.”

He felt inordinately proud of himself when Lance cracked a small smile. “That’s all we want,” said the younger man.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Yep, Fun Sentry doesn't exist in this universe)


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “K-Keith…” Hunk gasped into his mouth. Keith greedily swallowed his name down. Here, he wasn’t _Keith the half-Galra, Keith the Blade_ , or even _Keith the Red Paladin_. He was just _Keith_.
> 
> His hands gradually moved lower down Hunk’s body, first to his broad shoulders, then to his chest, waist, until they finally settled over his belt and—
> 
> —then Keith’s eyes shot open. He was panting heavily. Hunk was gone, as was the training deck.
> 
> It was just him and Krolia.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Keith didn't get nearly embarrassed enough by Krolia in the show (or at all tbh) and I'm here to fix that with a generous side helping of Heith >:)
> 
> There’s also a small s8 spoiler near the end but it’s very, very minor.
> 
> Full disclosure, we've basically caught up to what I have written so far for this fic (not counting the dozens of snippets I've already written for future chapters), so while I'll do my best to get ch. 8 done and uploaded next week as per usual, I can't promise that for sure. But I can promise that I'm still very much invested in this fic and will get this done even if it kills me.
> 
> Once again, I hope you enjoy! Kudos and comments are much appreciated <3

Keith was angry.

No, he wasn’t just angry, he was _furious and terrified out of his mind._

“This is why you shouldn’t have made that trade for me! We could die and you just handed the weapon over to Trugg,” he barked at Krolia. He swerved to avoid the ground cannon’s next shot but it was a close one. He didn’t know how long he could keep this up.

He knew, now, that he didn’t want to die. Not here, in the cold, merciless expanse of space, away from his friends and everyone he cared about.

Their faces flashed in his head. Shiro beaming proudly at him with one hand on his shoulder, grounding him. Lance smirking at him, aiming those stupid yet weirdly endearing finger guns at him. Pidge pouting up at him with her arms wrapped around his middle, declaring, _We’re really gonna miss you._ Allura giving him a worried look just before a passing refugee obscured her view of him. Coran patiently explaining how to use the training deck.

A brilliant smile that made him think, _I am home._ Amber eyes filled with so much affection that it was sort of unbelievable that they hadn’t spilled over yet, flooding everything in its path until all the loneliness in the universe was drowned out. Dark brown skin beneath his pale white hands, so _warm_ beneath his touch.

“No, Keith,” Krolia told him, voice infuriatingly calm. “I handed _them_ over to _it_.”

Trugg finally stopped firing at them and Keith managed to fly them out of the bloodbath intact. He set the ship’s controls to autopilot before pushing his chair back to face Krolia again.

Now that they had a bit more breathing room, he noticed that she was a good head taller than him, at least, which seemed to be the running theme with all the Blades he met. But there was something else about her that told him she wasn’t _just_ another Blade.

“I should give this back to you,” she said, returning his knife to him.

“How were you able to use it?” Keith had to ask. Kolivan had been adamant that their blades were tied to their bloodlines. No one else, not even Kolivan himself, could wield it.

Krolia closed her eyes, looking tired. “Because it used to be mine before I gave it to your father.”

_I left you once. I’ll never leave you again._

Keith reeled back as a million thoughts raced through his head. “You’re my mom?” _How?_ “How? How did you get to Earth?” _Why did you leave ~~me~~ us?_ “How did you meet my Dad? How are you so sure?” _Were we not good enough?_

“I’m sure,” said Krolia. She opened her eyes. Her gaze was harder than stone. “This isn’t how I wanted to meet you again and this isn’t how I wanted to tell you the truth. We can talk about this later.”

 _She couldn’t be serious…_ “What? You drop a bomb like this and tell me you’ll explain it later?” Keith shouted.

“We’ve got more important things to deal with right now,” Krolia replied in a far too calm tone. There was nothing maternal about it.

Keith bit down on his tongue. The part of him that had never quite left the foster system—that grew up fighting for everything he had, including the clothes on his back—wanted to push, scream, and stamp his foot like he was a child again. But the rest of him, the part that had seen war—real war, not just blurry videos and images on a screen—won out. “Fine,” he hissed.

Krolia began to explain about something called the Quantum Abyss and how it was connected to the quintessence that Ranveig had been experimenting with. Keith tried to pay attention, he really did, but he couldn’t help staring at Krolia, trying to catalogue their similarities—or as much as he could when she was a purple-skinned alien and he was decidedly more human.

She had the eyes of a hunter, eyes that Keith got made fun of when he was a kid (“He looks like a serial killer. And who even has eyes that colour?”); a sharp chin that Pops used to tickle every night when he tucked him into bed; and there was something familiar about the way her lips curled around her vowels.

If someone had told Keith that he was going to be reunited with his long lost mother—who, it had to be said, _was an alien_ —in _space_ a year ago, he would have laughed in that person’s face before giving them the black eye they deserved.

Now, he wondered if what was happening now wasn’t simply life being a bitch to him, specifically.

* * *

So far, aside from that strange vision of Shiro, most of the memories they saw in the Quantum Abyss were Krolia’s. Whether it was because she was older and therefore had more of them or some other inexplicable reason, Keith didn’t know.

Which was why he was shocked when he opened his eyes after the last blast to find himself on the Castle’s training deck.

He heard the doors behind him slide open and recognized the heavy footsteps making their way towards him. Without even turning around, he—the Keith in the memory—asked, “Are you going to yell at me, too?”

“Of course I am!” Hunk retorted. He sounded angry, far angrier than the time they were on their way to rescue the Balmera, and Rolo and Nyma double-crossed them. “You tried to kill yourself!”

Keith couldn’t see his mother in the memory but he could feel her presence flinching violently at Hunk’s words as if she were standing right next to him.

“It wasn’t like that,” Memory-Keith growled. “What was I supposed to do? Sit back and do nothing while the witch blew you guys up? I was trying to protect you!”

“And what were we supposed to do afterwards, huh?” Hunk growled back, getting right in his face. “We wouldn’t have even had a _body_ to mourn! Did you even stop to think about how we would feel?”

“ _No_ , because—funnily enough—I was a bit more concerned about your _survival_ at the time!”

“Then you should understand why we’re so upset!” Hunk countered, nearly screeching. Keith hadn’t noticed it at the time, but he could now see big fat tears brimming at the corners of the other boy’s eyes.

It struck him that he had never seen Hunk cry before and he didn’t know what to do with that information.

Memory-Keith rolled his eyes. “Look, I can’t take back what I did, not that it even matters now that Lotor’s here. I’m going back with the Blades.”

“Oh no you don’t! We’re not done here—” Hunk grabbed his arm.

If asked, Keith wouldn’t be able to say what exactly had been going through his mind when he threw the first punch. All he remembered was he was exhausted after being awake for over twenty hours, his body was starting to crash as the adrenaline faded away, and _he had nearly died._

Why couldn’t anyone see that this—the whole thing about how close to death they had all been—was the last thing he wanted to talk about?

The fight didn’t last long—he and Hunk were both too drained from the battle to do more than essentially slap at each other like toddlers. They tumbled to the ground within minutes and neither of them had the strength to get back up.

Keith remembered looking up into Hunk’s dark brown eyes and realizing, _I almost died. I almost died and I still haven’t told Shiro that I love him._

But, just as quickly as that revelation came to him, the reminder that Shiro had never looked at him the way Keith _knew_ he looked at Shiro, the same way he’d seen Lance look at Allura sometimes when he thought no one was watching, slammed into him like a kick to his chest.

 _He’s never going to love you back anyway_ , a raspy voice in his head that sounded like every single bully he ever encountered in his life had whispered to him.

Hunk was breathing heavily above Memory-Keith, looking dazed, as if waking up from a dream.

There was a faint rosy blush on his cheeks.

No, Shiro was never going to love him back, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t have this piece of affection for himself, right?

Keith let go of Hunk’s wrists and wrapped his arms around the taller boy’s neck, pulling him down until they were nose to nose.

Hunk blinked. “What—”

Keith shut him up with a hard kiss, clacking their teeth together. Hunk’s lips were warm and wet against his, making him think, strangely enough, of hot lazy days on the beach.

Hunk froze and didn’t respond for a couple heartbeats but Keith didn’t stop. At worst, he had misread Hunk’s signals completely, and was seconds away from being pushed away and yelled at.

At best, he had _not_ misread Hunk’s signals and was seconds away from something much, _much_ nicer than simply going at it with a training bot for the whole night.

Hunk finally, _finally_ snapped out of his daze and began kissing back.

Keith rewarded him by nipping lightly at his lips and coaxing them apart to explore the other boy’s mouth with his tongue.

Hunk let out a deep moan that went straight to Keith’s dick. In a flash, he rolled them over so he was kneeling between Hunk’s thighs with his hands tangled in his hair.

“K-Keith…” Hunk gasped into his mouth. Keith greedily swallowed his name down. Here, he wasn’t _Keith the half-Galra, Keith the Blade,_ or even _Keith the Red Paladin._ He was just _Keith._

His hands gradually moved lower down Hunk’s body, first to his broad shoulders, then to his chest, waist, until they finally settled over his belt and—

—then Keith’s eyes shot open. He was panting heavily. Hunk was gone, as was the training deck.

It was just him and Krolia.

To her credit, Krolia didn’t look fazed by what she had just seen, even as she awkwardly cleared her throat. “Did you use protection?” she asked delicately.

Keith didn’t often get embarrassed but he had never wanted to be swallowed by a black hole more than he did at this very moment. “It—That’s none of your business!” he sputtered. “Besides, it’s not like either of us can get pregnant.”

“I know what STIs are, Keith.”

Keith glanced at the Quantum Abyss and very, very briefly considered throwing himself into it. “We’re clean,” he said and left it at that.

Krolia nodded, looking horribly relieved. “Good.”

Neither of them said anything for a few minutes until Krolia coughed. “What did he mean about you trying to commit suicide?” Her voice was so quiet that Keith had to strain his ears to hear her but the way she was looking at Keith was...well, what Keith always imagined a mother would look.

_Oh hell._

“I wasn’t trying to kill myself,” he told her stiffly. “Like I said, it was either them or me, so I chose them. It was better that way.”

Krolia made a sound that reminded Keith of a wounded coyote he and Pops found hiding under the house once. “You’re wrong,” she said brokenly. She crossed the space between them until she was standing right in front of Keith, close enough to put her hands on his shoulders if she wanted to. Keith was forced to tip his head back to meet her gaze. “It wouldn’t have been better—not for me. Everything I’ve done in my life—none of it would have meant anything if you were gone.”

All Keith could do was swallow, his throat as dry as the desert sand that he once called home.

(But it wasn’t home, hadn’t been home for over ten years. Now, home was a Castle with stars threaded in its foundation; a Lionsong that was carved into his very bones. Home was six people brought together like mismatched pieces of fabric stitched haphazardly together to make a quilt.

Home was a wide, beaming smile that never failed to make him smile in return, the smell of home-cooked meals prepared with tantalizing care, and big but gentle hands caressing him with so much affection that it made him forget to breathe sometimes.

It wasn’t perfect but it felt _right_.)

* * *

Having a father had been one thing.

Having a mother...wasn’t _that_ different, not really, but it was different enough that Keith found himself beginning to feel out of step with everything around him, like the tectonic plates of his world had shifted slightly while he wasn’t looking.

Krolia wasn’t soft, not like the way the mothers Keith grew up seeing on TV and in films were, but she didn’t try to step into the boots Pops left behind either. She was primarily his commanding officer but Keith occasionally caught a glimpse of starving affection in her eyes, in moments when she thought he couldn’t see her.

Not that it was possible for either of them to hide anything from one another anyway, not when the Quantum Abyss’s visions revealed all.

(Keith couldn’t look Krolia in the eye for a whole day after witnessing the night of his conception.

Krolia, in turn, actually _stammered_ for the first time in the months Keith had known her after being subjected to the incredibly awkward night Keith lost his virginity.)

They were approximately three months into their journey when they started receiving visions of the future. Specifically, Keith’s future.

He had been in the middle of trying to teach the cosmic wolf how to sit when he felt the by now intimately familiar rumbling of the Quantum Abyss, followed by that blinding flash of light he had grown to both love and hate.

When he opened his eyes, he found himself standing in an unfamiliar hangar. It was teeming with people—both aliens _and_ humans.

Before Keith had the chance to really understand the implications of what he was seeing, his feet began to lead him to a corner with confident and precise steps. He—or, more accurately, his future self—was looking for something, he realized.

 _Or someone_ , he thought when he came to stop in front of a jet surrounded by four people, all of whom were wearing the ugly orange uniform that signified their status as Garrison cadets.

But none of them was the person he was apparently looking for, because his future self’s eyes went straight to a familiar pair of legs sticking out from beneath the jet. He felt a sudden rush of inexplicable affection at the sight.

 _What the quiznak was_ that _about?_

One of the cadets, a girl with brown skin and blue hair, caught sight of Keith and started _waggling her eyebrows_ at him, of all things. “Oh Hunk,” she called out in sing-song, “someone’s here to see you.”

Keith felt his cheeks burn at the hidden innuendo in her tone but his future self kept his head up even as one of the other cadets, a vaguely familiar brunet from his fighter pilot class, snorted a bit too loudly.

Hunk crawled out from under the jet and stood up, blinking in surprise when his eyes landed on Keith. He was wearing his trademark yellow shirt with the sleeves rolled up, showing off impressive oil-stained biceps. A cute orange-pink blush spread over his equally stained cheeks.

The urge to kiss him assaulted Keith so suddenly that he felt himself sway forward a little before his brain caught up to the rest of his body, reeling him back.

That...was a reaction he had _not_ been expecting.

He’d never felt this way about Shiro before. Sure, the _desire_ had been there, but the way his chest was growing warm and _aching_ for Hunk now was different from what he used to feel for the older man ( _wait, what?_ ). It was softer, more fragile, and therefore more precious and _intimate_.

There was always this sense of distant awe that surrounded Shiro no matter how long Keith has actually known him. But there was none of that with Hunk.

“K-Keith! Hi! What are you doing here?” Hunk asked. He grabbed a cloth from one of the other cadets, a blonde girl with freckles, and began wiping his hands on it.

Future-Keith cleared his throat. “Um, I was looking for you,” he heard himself say, inwardly cringing at how stupidly _awkward_ he sounded.

“Oh! Did you—uh, need something?”

“No, I just...wanted to see if you were free...to hang out.” Quiznak, Keith was going to have to take back everything he ever said about Lance’s flirting. Sure, the other boy struck out more times than not before he finally seemed to realize his feelings for Allura were more than just a passing fancy, but he made it look _so easy_. “I was thinking about what Shiro said at the meeting earlier, about spending time with the—the people you love, and...well, yeah,” Future-Keith finished lamely.

Hunk’s cheeks reddened even more. It was an unfairly adorable sight. “Y-Yeah, sure. Just let me get cleaned up. Did you—um, want to meet somewhere?” he asked, his voice impossibly sweet.

“Actually, I can walk with you. Er, if you want.”

Somewhere in the background, Keith could hear the blue-haired cadet snickering, “This is so much better than anything the CW could ever come up with.”

Hunk shot her a glare but didn’t respond. He grabbed his new Garrison-issued jacket from where it had been hanging on one of the jet’s wings and headed towards Keith. “You really don’t have to if you don’t want to,” he said, but the beginnings of a smile was tugging at the edges of his lips.

And Keith wanted nothing more in that moment than to see it. “I want to.”

Before he knew it, his hand reached for Hunk’s and laced their fingers together, uncaring of the oil that was undoubtedly going to stain his gloves.

A smile bloomed across Hunk’s face and it was one of the loveliest things Keith had ever seen.

Hunk opened his mouth and—

—then the cosmic wolf was sitting at Keith’s feet and making curious whining sounds.

A few feet away, Krolia continued preparing their dinner as if nothing had happened.

Neither of them said anything for a few moments, and Keith assumed that meant that was the end of it, until Krolia, without even looking up, spoke, “So, about this Hunk…”

Keith buried his face in his wolf’s fur and groaned.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Does he look bigger to you guys?” Lance asked faintly. “He’s bigger, right?”
> 
> Hunk swallowed. The angle of the screen made it harder for him to tell, but Keith certainly _looked_ broader.
> 
> His suspicions were confirmed when they arrived at the hangar and Keith jumped out of the Altean pod he had somehow gotten his hands on.
> 
> He seemed impossibly more gorgeous now than he had been in Hunk’s memories and everything about this situation was pure torture.
> 
> Quiznaking hormones.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooo, this chapter is basically a fast and loose rewrite of s6, specifically "Omega Shield" and "The Colony". I enjoyed s6 for the most part, but as you'll probably be able to tell, I had some minor grievances for which I'm basically using this chapter as an outlet.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoy! Comments and kudos are much appreciated!

Despite everyone assuring him that he didn’t need to join them on their trip back to Galra Central Command, Hunk politely but adamantly insisted on going. It had been a few days since Oriande; surely, if he could survive nearly suffocating to death in the space equivalent of the Bermuda Triangle, then he could handle being in the presence of the Galra for a couple hours. At least, that was what he told himself.

(And, if he was being honest, he didn’t want to be scared anymore.)

So, after everyone made him promise that he would let them know the second he felt the slightest hint of an attack, they set out for Galra Central Command.

Cutting through the swathes of cruisers and straight into the heart of the Galra’s forces wasn’t even that bad this time. Having his friends by his side and Yellow constantly purring at the back of his mind helped.

(Of course, a part of him couldn’t help but think it would have been better if a certain other person was also here, but he quickly forced himself to cut off that budding thought before it could take root.)

What he hadn’t expected was Lotor’s _nanny_ —which, _what?_ —to show up and start rambling about bizarre Galra customs.

“I instructed Lotor in the ways of the Galra...” explained the harsh-looking woman. “...the history of our conquests, our customs, battle philosophy, and the art of war.”

And then Hunk found himself opening his dumb, traitorous mouth. “Galra customs, huh? Is that like when you guys say ‘Vrepit Sa’ and stuff? Gah, there’s so much we don’t know about you.”

He flinched when Lotor dropped his hand on his shoulder, and it was only Allura’s solid, reassuring presence at his back that kept him from attacking the other man like his instincts were screaming at him to do. “If you’re interested in our society’s history, you couldn’t find a better teacher than Dayak.”

The words, “ _Hell no_ ,” were on the tip of Hunk’s tongue. He had already spent enough time with one psychotic Galran, thanks. And he didn’t even get a lame t-shirt out of it.

But then he recalled something Allura told them earlier, before they even heard about Oriande.

_Now that Lotor is on the throne and amiable to working with us, we have to do everything we can to support him. This is our chance to promote peace and put a stop to the Galra who are still terrorizing planets._

If there was one disadvantage the team consistently faced since they got thrust into this war, it was their severe lack of understanding of Galran culture. Allura and Coran’s knowledge was ten thousand years out of date, and none of the Blade were very forthcoming, even with Keith.

A dark thought came to him: what if there were others like him? Others who had suffered that same kind of treatment but, unlike Hunk, hadn’t made it out?

Hunk didn’t know if learning more about the Galra and trying to understand their way of thinking would help the Coalition’s efforts—or even bring him closure—but it couldn’t hurt, right?

“Would you really teach me about the Galra?” he asked hesitantly.

“What do you want to know about the Galra for?” Lance asked, sounding skeptical.

“Well, we’re gonna be working with Lotor to bring peace throughout the empire, right?” Hunk mumbled. “Just makes sense that the more we know about their society, the better.”

“If you are to learn the ways of the Galra, you must prepare for the most challenging trial you could ever undertake,” Dayak declared. “There will be no turning back. _Victory...or death_.”

Hunk gulped. “Uh…”

“You don’t have to do this, Hunk,” Allura told him, her voice a cool, soothing waterfall. “But remember, you’re a Paladin of Voltron. There is no challenge too great for you.”

“And you’re a genius engineer who built a Voltron Geiger counter out of a box of scraps in Keith’s shack,” said Pidge, adjusting her glasses. “If anyone can do this, it’s you.”

“What they said,” added Lance, but there were unspoken paragraphs in his tone.

Coran beamed at him and nodded enthusiastically. Shiro was more subdued but gave him an encouraging nod as well.

Hunk smiled at his friends, feeling his heart grow light from their words. He turned back to Dayak. “Will I learn what ‘Vrepit Sa’ means?” he finally asked.

“Yes.”

Hunk exhaled. “Okay, let’s do it.”

* * *

Approximately half an hour later, Hunk was beginning to regret everything.

At least Lance had volunteered to stay with him, so he wasn’t _entirely_ alone in his suffering.

“How exactly is holding these weights gonna help me learn Galra history?” he grunted.

“Palen-bol!”

Even though he _knew_ that the switch was coming, Hunk still couldn’t stop himself from flinching, “Ow!”

“Hey!” Lance protested, looking like he was one twitch away from summoning his bayard. “He was just asking a question!”

“For the mind to learn, the body must be broken,” said Dayak, completely unphased.

“Broken? That seems a little drastic,” Hunk squeaked.

 _I’m more curious about what it takes to break a Paladin_ , the Druid’s voice whispered in his head. The words slithered uncomfortably down his spine.

He shivered.

Luckily, he didn’t have time to wallow in that memory for too long before Dayak cried, “Palen-bol!” ‘ _Whack!_ ’, went the switch.

“Ow! What does that even _mean?_ ”

Dayak scoffed, “It means the ‘enlightening pain.’ But apparently there is not enough pain to make you enlightened yet.”

“So, the pain is supposed to make him smarter?” Lance asked dubiously, voicing Hunk’s thoughts out loud.

“Yes,” said Dayak, before launching into a very intimidating lecture about the Galra’s history.

Okay, to be fair, it was pretty fascinating and actually answered a lot of Hunk’s questions about the Galrans, but it was still mostly the stuff of nightmares.

“...The Galra formed a phalanx of their bravest and made a spear-like attack to the heart of their foes,” Dayak continued with a disturbing grin on her face. “It was known as the Killing Thrust, or Vrepit Sa.”

“Oh, so that’s what Vrepit Sa means?” Hunk asked faintly. “‘Killing Thrust’? That’s so violent.”

“Palen-bol!”

“Ow!”

“Yes, it is violent. The Galra believe combat is the searing light that burns away imperfections on every level, from personal to societal.”

Hunk exchanged glances with Lance, who looked just as doubtful as Hunk felt. They were both intimately familiar with true pain—both the physical and emotional kind—and Hunk simply couldn’t see how any kind of violence could be construed as a _good_ thing.

It just made him feel empty inside.

* * *

Hunk had never been so happy when the emergency klaxons started ringing, putting a halt to Dayak’s ‘lessons’.

It really said something that he wasn’t even phased when the Galra occupying the planet they were supposed to rescue (and, man, that was never going to stop being weird) informed them that they only had five minutes to fix the Omega Shield before they would _all die_.

No pressure at all.

“ _You’re the engineer, Hunk, how should we handle this?_ ” Shiro asked.

A heartbeat passed before Hunk realized that Shiro had been addressing _him_. Sure, Hunk had taken point on missions before, but he hadn’t expected Shiro to let him do so again so soon after what happened to him. Hell, Hunk’s _bayard_ was still missing, in spite of Pidge and Allura’s best efforts to track it, which meant he was essentially useless to the team.

 _No_ , he heard Yellow growl at the back of his head. Well, he didn’t really communicate in words, but the sentiment rang loud and clear. _Precious_.

Hunk exhaled and tightened his grip on Yellow’s controls, shamelessly grateful for the warmth that permeated the cockpit. _Okay_ , he thought to Yellow, _I trust you_.

“We need to split up,” Hunk said eventually. His Lion rumbled approvingly in the back of his head. “Pidge, you handle the generator system.”

“ _Then I’m gonna need Shiro to come with me. I can use his arm to recalibrate the mainframe._ ”

“Okay, good. Allura, Lance, I need you to re-fuse that fractured plate.”

“ _Affirmative._ ”

“ _You got it._ ”

“I’m gonna try to get the plates realigned,” Hunk finished.

“ _Okay, we’ve got our orders. Let’s move!_ ” Shiro ordered.

Things were going smoothly for a while, too, enough so that Hunk was beginning to think that they might actually be able to pull this off without any trouble.

Well, at least until the two Galra in charge of the Omega Shield started bickering like toddlers.

“ _First, you side with Lotor and get our system attacked by Sendak!_ ” one of them, Lahn, snarled, aiming his gun at the other, Bogh. “ _Then you willfully work with Voltron, our sworn enemies!_ ”

Bogh bared his teeth at the shorter Galra, looking ready to bite him at any second. “ _Get to your station and begin the thrust sequence. That’s an order._ ”

“Are you freakin’ kidding me? We’ve got a giant radiation belt that’s about to kill us all and you’re playing the blame game?” Hunk had to shout, incredulous.

“ _We’re going to die here because of Commander Bogh!_ ” Lahn protested, completely missing the point.

 _For the mind to learn, the body must be broken_ , Dayak had said. The Galra way.

Hunk shuddered and shook her words out of his head. No, even if that was the way the Galra operated, Hunk knew he could never do the same.

“Look, I don’t care how we got here,” Hunk cut in. “All that matters now are the people you love! So, are you really going to sit there and point fingers at each other while people are _dying_ , or are you actually going to do something about it?”

Silence descended over the other line. On the screen, both Galra, including their subordinates, were staring incredulously at Hunk, like he just grew a second head and dyed his skin neon pink.

Hunk held their gazes, though, even as faint images of the Druid’s bone white mask and pale yellow eyes flickered in his periphery. But he knew he was right.

There were people who needed his help and he’d be damned if he didn’t do everything he could to save them.

Finally, Lahn and Bogh nodded, looking contrite.

Things were touch and go for a while, especially when Lance took a blast that _may or may not have killed him_ —which, _what?_ —and then _got brought back to life by Allura_ —again, _what the fuck?_ —but they managed to get the Omega Shield fixed in the end.

Yeah, Hunk still wasn’t exactly sure how they pulled that one off, but he wasn’t going to look a gift lion in the mouth.

“Great job, Hunk,” Shiro congratulated him as they made their way to the hangar afterwards. He clapped Hunk on the shoulder. “I’m sorry for spacing out back there. I...I don’t know what came over me,” he said apologetically.

“It’s alright, Shiro,” said Allura, giving him a kind smile. “We know it wasn’t your fault.”

“Still,” Shiro persisted, eyes drifting back down to Hunk. “You really stepped up back there. I’m proud of you. We’re all proud of you.”

Hunk felt something warm spread in his chest at Shiro’s words, only to immediately feel guilty as he recalled the anger and jealousy he once felt towards the older man.

Well, if he was honest with himself, he was still jealous. But he knew it wasn’t Shiro’s fault. His feelings were his own problem; blaming him for the whole mess with Keith wouldn’t be fair to any of them.

“Yeah,” added Lance, swinging his arm around Hunk’s shoulders. “Man, imagine if Iverson could see you now. He probably wouldn’t even recognize you.”

“Or any of us,” said Pidge, glancing over her shoulder to shoot them a gleeful grin.

Allura nodded, looking solemn. “I don’t know who this Iverson is, but I agree that you’ve all grown and changed a lot since the day we met.”

Lance wrapped his other arm around her shoulders and winked at her. “For better or for worse?”

Allura flicked his ear but tellingly snuggled closer to his side. “Well, it’s still a shame that your ears are the way they are…”

“Hey!”

“...but I think it is safe to say that you’ve changed for the better,” she continued, giving each of them a weighted look.

Allura wasn’t wrong; Hunk certainly _felt_ different. Even before he got captured by that Druid, from the moment he stepped into the Blue Lion, he could feel something within him begin to change irrevocably. He didn’t know if it had a name, but it was undeniably _there_ , humming just beneath his skin like a livewire.

Sure, the mission today—on top of the spontaneous ‘lesson’ with Dayak—had been nerve-racking as hell, but, against all odds, he _survived_. They all did.

And, for the first time in weeks, Hunk began to think that he could survive anything.

* * *

That resolution lasted up until they got their first glimpse of Keith in over a month since he went off with the Blades again.

“Does he look bigger to you guys?” Lance asked faintly. “He’s bigger, right?”

Hunk swallowed. The angle of the screen made it hard for him to tell, but Keith certainly _looked_ broader. The dips of his collarbones seemed more prominent, almost sharp enough to cut glass. His chest was bigger, too, stretching the already thin material of his Blade uniform more than Hunk remembered.

His suspicions were confirmed when they arrived at the hangar and Keith jumped out of the Altean pod he had somehow gotten his hands on.

He raised his head, meeting everyone’s eyes with a calm, confident gaze, and Hunk’s mouth watered.

Keith seemed impossibly more gorgeous now than he had been in Hunk’s memories and everything about this situation was pure torture.

_Quiznaking hormones._

“We need to stop Lotor, he’s been lying to all of us,” said Keith, breaking Hunk out of his thoughts.

“Lying about what?” Shiro asked, sounding just as confused as Hunk felt.

“Everything!” an unfamiliar girl’s voice yelled.

They all whipped their heads in the direction of that voice. Standing a few feet behind Keith was, bizarrely, a _wolf_ —even though it looked nothing like any wolf Hunk had ever seen—along with two people, a Galran and—

Coran gasped, “You’re...You’re Altean!”

“Who’s the Galran?” Lance asked.

“Is that a wolf?” Hunk added nervously.

“Where did you come from?” Coran pushed.

Keith stepped forward and raised his hands placatingly. “I promise I’ll explain everything once we get to Lotor.”

“We can’t get to him,” Pidge told him, somehow the most composed out of all of them. “He just entered the quintessence field with Allura.”

“And we can’t attack him without risking Allura’s safety as well,” Lance pointed out, giving Keith a meaningful look.

Keith let out a frustrated sigh but seemed to accept that. “Okay, let’s wait for them to get back,” he decided. “In the meantime…” he glanced at the blonde Altean, who was watching him in concern. “...let’s regroup on the bridge. I think Romelle should tell her own story.”

A billion questions were running through Hunk’s head but he had no choice except to bite down on his tongue and follow Keith as he strode purposefully to the elevator.

(Meanwhile, he could feel the Galran’s sharp gaze on him the entire time as they made their way towards the bridge. But every time he glanced at her, she was looking away.

Huh, weird.)

* * *

An hour later, Pidge met Shiro’s eyes over the wings of the Altean pod. There was no recognition in them.

She lifted her bayard and fired.

(Once, she might have hesitated and even let him go, unable to bring herself to hurt the man Dad and Matt admired so much.

But she wasn’t that naive little girl anymore. Now, a part of her would never— _could never_ forget the coldly calculating tone in Shiro’s voice when he said, “ _It’s a perfectly logical plan,_ ” in response to Lotor’s suggestion of abandoning Hunk to go to the goddamn Kral Zera instead.)

One of Lotor’s generals, the blue-skinned one, reached the pod just seconds before she did. Her eyes swept over Shiro and Lotor’s unconscious bodies before meeting Pidge’s gaze.

“Let us take Lotor and you can keep your friend,” she said, hand resting on her gun.

Pidge considered her words as Keith and his mother’s steps grew closer.

The odds were on their side, but the chances of them getting out of a confrontation without any casualties were too low.

She nodded curtly. “Go.”

The Galra didn’t waste any time in flinging Lotor over her shoulder before dashing to the remaining Sincline ship.

Keith and Krolia reached her mere seconds later. “What happened?” Keith barked, eyes automatically straying to Shiro.

Neither of them even bothered trying to stop the last of Lotor’s generals from fleeing.

“It was either him or Lotor,” Pidge said simply.

Keith’s eyes narrowed at the older man’s slumped form. That action, more than anything else, was what hammered home the fact that he really _had_ changed. Keith carried himself differently now, more like a veteran than just the hot-blooded foot soldier Pidge had grown to love as a sort of brother in the last year alongside Lance and Hunk.

_Just what did he see in the Quantum Abyss?_

“Right, let’s take him back to the bridge,” said Krolia, her voice piercing through Pidge’s musings. “And find out what the _hell_ is going on here.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Somewhere out there, JDS probably just felt a disturbance in the force and has no idea why :')


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Since my fight with Zarkon, I’ve been here.”
> 
> Hunk heard Keith swallow hoarsely at his side, “When you disappeared?”
> 
> “Yes,” said Shiro. “I didn’t know where I was, how much time had passed. My physical form was gone. I existed on another realm. I...I died.”
> 
> Hunk felt all the air in his lungs evaporate. _Shiro was dead all this time? How could they not have known?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!! Apologies for the late update! Thank you so much for all your feedback last chapter, I really appreciate it. This chapter is a bit more canon-heavy but I promise the next one will have more Heith goodness!
> 
> Thanks again for reading and I hope you enjoy!

When Shiro woke up, his pupils were purple.

Hunk clenched his fists, grounding himself in the pinpricks of his nails digging into his palms. Next to him, Allura sucked in a shaky breath.

Shiro slowly sat up and cracked his neck before finally meeting everyone’s eyes through the glass. The irony of putting him in Lotor’s old cell only a month or so after releasing the Galran from it on Shiro’s own suggestion didn’t escape any of them.

Shiro’s lips curled into an ugly grin that didn’t suit his handsome face at all. “ _Well_ , doesn’t this seem familiar?”

It was his voice but it didn’t sound like him. His inflections were usually smooth and warm, reminding Hunk of something cooking on a stove. Now, there was nothing but jagged edges in his words.

Shiro rotated his right arm and raised an eyebrow when he seemed to realize they had disabled its weapon functions. Now, it was the equivalent of an ordinary human prosthetic. He swivelled his head towards Pidge and sneered. “Clever girl,” he spat, standing up and walking right up to the edge of the cell. “I didn’t think you had it in you.”

Pidge didn’t move and her expression remained carefully blank. But she looked unbearably small in front of Shiro’s hulking form.

Shiro, Hunk realized, had _never_ used his size to intimidate any of them before. Seeing him use his strength like this was...horrifying.

Hunk moved to Pidge’s side and grabbed her hand. He gave it a reassuring squeeze. _I’m here, I’m here_.

Keith stepped forward, head held high and spine ramrod straight. It was only because Hunk had known him for so long that he noticed the way the other boy’s hands were shaking. “Shiro,” he said softly, drawing Shiro’s attention away from Pidge. “I don’t know what’s wrong but we’re gonna fix this.”

Shiro threw his head back and laughed. There was no warmth in it and it was the scariest sound Hunk had ever heard.

“Oh, Keith,” Shiro tutted. “Poor little lovelorn orphan. You think you can _save_ me? Like the way I saved you?” He bent down until he was eye to eye with Keith. If it weren’t for the glass acting as a barrier, they would have been close enough to kiss. “I should have abandoned you, just like your parents did. They saw that you were broken, _worthless_. I should have seen it, too.”

Fury pierced Hunk’s heart like a knife, but it was seeing Keith’s eyes grow wet that spurred him to gently push him away from the glass and step in front of him, blocking him from Shiro’s hard, ugly gaze. “That’s not true—”

“ _You’re wrong._ ”

Krolia joined Hunk and bared her fangs at Shiro. The fire in her eyes was identical to the one Hunk was used to seeing in Keith’s whenever he was angry. “You’re wrong,” she said again, more quietly but in a no less deadly tone. Hunk shuddered, suddenly glad that she was on their side.

Shiro cocked his head at her, then at Hunk, and smirked. “Well done, Keith,” he purred. “Looks like you finally got the family you always wanted.” His eyes slid back over to Krolia, calculating. “I’m just surprised that the Empire hadn’t wiped the prodigal mother and her kind out yet.”

Out of the corner of Hunk’s eyes, he caught Lance frowning thoughtfully at Shiro like he just got handed another piece of the puzzle, but one he still didn’t know the shape of.

He exchanged pointed looks with Allura, who nodded before tapping something on her tablet and announcing, “Mute cell.”

The glass went dark, almost opaque. This way, they could still see and hear Shiro but Shiro wouldn’t be able to see or hear them.

“Oh? A team meeting without me? I’m hurt,” Shiro laughed as he flopped back down onto the cot, looking like he had all the time in the world.

Lance gestured for all of them to huddle around him. Hunk tried to ignore Shiro but couldn’t help feeling as if he was still being watched by the other man.

“That’s not Shiro,” said Lance.

“No shit,” Pidge scoffed, crossing her arms. If she were a dog, her hackles would be raised. She looked just as anxious as Hunk felt.

Lance shook his head. “No, I mean...those aren’t his mannerisms. Or...I guess they are, but it’s weird. A funhouse mirror kind of weird.” He chewed on his lip. “I was talking with him while Allura and Lotor were in Oriande…” Allura flinched and he sent her an apologetic look. “...and I don’t think whatever is happening now was planned.”

Hunk raised an eyebrow at him. He knew Lance was smart and that he had an eerily good eye for spotting even the most subtle patterns, but he was going to need a good explanation for this. “What do you mean ‘planned’?”

Lance exhaled and rested his hands on his hips, “When we were talking, he mentioned how he hadn’t been feeling like himself lately and I didn’t get the sense that he was lying. He actually looked kind of terrified.”

“He could have been acting,” Allura pointed out.

“I know,” Lance conceded, “but my gut tells me he wasn’t.”

“Are you suggesting he’s been turned into a Manchurian candidate of some sort?” Krolia asked.

At everyone’s look of surprise, she added, “Keith’s father had an eclectic film library.”

“I still don’t understand,” said Romelle.

“It’s an Earth thing,” Hunk supplied.

He glanced at Keith, who was sneaking guilty looks at Shiro over his shoulder, and felt his own heart grow heavy. Keith looked so sad and lost, reminding Hunk of the way he looked in the days leading up to him leaving the team to join the Blades.

 _We should never have let him go_ , Hunk thought.

“I think we should do a mind-meld,” said Lance, drawing Hunk’s attention back to the conversation at hand.

Allura crossed her arms. “Do you really think it would help?” She sounded uncharacteristically small and unsure.

Hunk dropped a hand on her shoulder in support. “I agree with Lance. It might help us figure out what’s going on.”

He had a feeling that it had something to do with Lotor and the Galra but held his tongue. They were all still reeling from what they learned about the colony but Allura had been hit the hardest out of all of them.

They all wordlessly turned to Keith, who was now staring at the ground with his fists clenched at his sides. Although none of them said it, Hunk suspected they had all come to the same silent agreement: Keith was the one who would be calling the shots now.

The other boy finally raised his head, eyes blazing with determination. “Okay, let’s do it.”

* * *

Shiro was strangely compliant when they tied him up and secured the helmet on him, but it only heightened Hunk’s nerves. The whole thing felt too much like a trap.

Judging by the apprehensive expressions on everyone’s faces, the rest of the team felt the same way.

Keith touched the glass and gave Shiro one last pleading look. “I know you’re in there, Shiro, and I’m not giving up on you.” He swallowed. “You’re my brother. I...I love you.”

Hunk looked away.

He could almost picture the sneer on Shiro’s face when he replied, “Didn’t your parents ever teach you not to make promises you can’t keep?”

Keith didn’t respond for a few seconds but eventually joined Hunk, Lance, Allura, and Pidge in the semi-circle they made on the floor in front of Shiro’s cell. He adjusted his own helmet and nodded at Allura.

Allura nodded back and inhaled deeply. On her exhale, she said, “Close your eyes and visualize your bond with your Lions. Let them guide you to the Voltron mindspace.”

With one last glance at Keith, Hunk closed his eyes.

Lance once mentioned that bonding with the Blue Lion was like taking a running leap over a waterfall—terrifying as hell, but even more thrilling. There were obvious differences now that he was bonded with the Red Lion, but there were odd similarities, too. “ _It’s like walking into a firestorm,_ ” he’d told Hunk. “ _I had to put a lot of faith in Red, trust that he wouldn’t burn me, but faith is a two-way street, isn’t it?_ ”

Once, shortly after the disaster that was Thayserix, Allura had quietly admitted to Hunk that she was still struggling with the Blue Lion. “ _It’s like swimming upstream,_ ” she’d said breathlessly, “ _It’s exciting, but...there is also that fear, isn’t there? That you’re simply one wrong move away from drowning at any moment._ ” But Hunk knew that Allura and Blue’s relationship had gotten better since then, and she never mentioned anything about drowning ever again. Nowadays, whenever they formed Voltron, Hunk felt their bond like a cool wave washing over him, reminding him of a childhood spent learning how to surf.

To Hunk, bonding with Yellow was like walking into a pitch black cave without a flashlight and not knowing if there was a way out. Like Lance described, there was always going to be that small initial moment of fear, but after that, it was pure adrenaline.

He could feel Yellow’s pleased purrs rumbling through his bones as he called up the image of the cave he found Yellow in and envisioned himself walking into it, following the invisible rope tugging him towards his Lion.

The further into the cave he went, the warmer and brighter it seemed to get. Red, Green, and Blue’s distinctive roars echoed around him in perfect harmony with Yellow’s. He could feel Lance, Pidge, and Allura’s presence as if they were walking right next to him.

“Keith?” Hunk heard Allura ask. “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine!” Keith snapped.

“Hey!” Lance retorted. Hunk felt a flash of indignation. “She’s just trying to help!”

There was a wince. “I know, I know,” Keith sighed. “Just...give me a minute.” He sounded more frustrated with himself than anything else.

 _Right, it’s been two years for him_ , Hunk thought, feeling an invisible hand grip his heart.

Now that he had been Yellow’s Paladin for almost a year, he couldn’t imagine ever going more than a few days without piloting him—at least, not willingly.

Before Hunk knew it, his hand was already reaching for Keith and settling on his knee. He felt Keith jump at the contact but gave him a reassuring squeeze. “It’s okay,” he whispered, eyes still closed. “We’re right here with you.”

Keith didn’t respond for a few seconds. Then, just as Hunk thought that was the end of that, he heard a softly uttered, “Okay,” followed by a deep, resolute exhale.

Murmuring an apology to Allura, Keith began to relax under Hunk’s hand. He didn’t try to push it off and Hunk didn’t let go.

Hunk started breathing in through his nose and out through his mouth, loud enough for Keith to follow. Breathing was just one part of the mind-meld; the rest was up to Keith.

Finally, Hunk felt it—a spark, like when you struck a piece of flint against rock. Then, Black’s proud, nearly deafening roar joined in the Lionsong.

(But there was something else beneath it, something foreign. It felt heavy and sludge-like— _wrong_.

And, somewhere in that wrongness, Hunk caught a glimpse of something that felt like a cross between a memory and a fever dream.

He was standing in a lab, gazing at rows and rows of pods. They weren’t empty.)

The cave disappeared as a purple night sky bled into view like watercolour on a canvas.

“Whoa,” Lance breathed from Hunk’s side, taking a hesitant step forward. “This is...different.”

Allura nodded. “Father never mentioned the astral plane looking like this...”

“ _Allura?_ ” came a voice that was at once familiar and foreign.

As one, they whipped their heads to the source of that voice.

There was nothing at first, just an endless sea of stars. Then, the very air _shimmered_ and the silhouette of a figure materialized in front of them.

It was Shiro.

While the others reached for their weapons, Hunk took a wary step back, intimately aware of his missing bayard.

“I’m not here to harm you,” said Shiro. His eyes tracked their movements but the man made no move to defend himself. “Just let me explain. The person that attacked you wasn’t me.”

Pidge dropped her arm but kept her bayard in her hand. “Okay, I’m officially confused.” She paused. “More confused.”

Shiro chuckled, as if he found her response _endearing_. It reminded Hunk of those first few weeks they were in space together. Shiro always had a soft spot for Pidge

“Since my fight with Zarkon, I’ve been here.”

Hunk heard Keith swallow hoarsely at his side, “When you disappeared?”

“Yes,” said Shiro. “I didn’t know where I was, how much time had passed. My physical form was gone. I existed on another realm. I...I died.”

Hunk felt all the air in his lungs evaporate. _Shiro was dead all this time? How could they not have known?_

Among everyone’s shocked gasps, he heard Keith let out a quiet choked sound that tore through his chest.

Shiro’s lips curled into a sad smile and that, more than anything, was what really convinced Hunk that this was the real Shiro. The Shiro that was currently in the Castle never quite managed to convey sympathy the way this Shiro— _their_ Shiro could.

“The Black Lion somehow retained my essence,” he continued, voice still unbearably gentle.

“Is-Is that where we are? In the Black Lion’s consciousness?” Keith asked.

Shiro nodded. “I tried to warn you about the imposter while on Olkarion but—”

Whatever Shiro wanted to say got cut off as his body began disintegrating.

“Shiro!” Keith rushed forward but his hand only connected with empty air. “No—”

Hunk opened his eyes with a gasp. The astral plane was gone; Romelle was standing in front of him now, holding onto the helmet and looking at him worriedly. “Wha-What’s going on?” he asked. He caught sight of Coran and Krolia helping the others take their helmets off in his periphery.

“We should be asking you that,” said Romelle as she dropped the helmet on the floor. “Everything was fine until—Shiro, was it?—started screaming. The rest of you _looked_ fine, but Coran thought it was best to disconnect you anyway.”

_Shiro!_

Hunk whipped his head toward the cell, only to find Shiro—the other Shiro sprawled on the floor of his cell. His chest was still—he wasn’t breathing.

“Shiro!” Hunk cried out. Imposter or not, the man had still been their friend and, if what Lance and Krolia were implying was true, then this wasn’t even his fault.

Keith was the first to enter the other Shiro’s cell, with Lance at his heels. He carefully propped the older man up into a half-sitting position and tilted his head up. “Shiro?”

The other Shiro groaned and his eyes fluttered open. There was no purple in them anymore.

“I saw them…” he coughed, sounding horribly weak. “T-The others. Clones.” His expression grew haunted and it was a sight that Hunk never, ever wanted to see again for as long as he lived.

( _He was standing in a lab, gazing at rows and rows of pods. They weren’t empty._ )

“The witch,” he rasped. “She knows. I...I don’t have much time.”

Hunk caught something shatter in Keith’s eyes. Lance and Pidge both cursed.

No one was saying it, but Hunk knew they were all thinking the same thing: _killswitch_.

Hunk clenched his fist tightly enough that he could feel his nails pierce the palms of his hands. Shiro—both the real one and this one—didn’t deserve this. He felt helpless and he _hated_ it.

“ _No_ ,” Allura’s voice cut through defiantly. “We’ll get you into a healing pod. Coran?”

“On it, Princess.” Coran was already halfway out the door.

Shiro started protesting, “But I’m not—”

“You didn’t know,” Lance interrupted forcefully. “As far as we’re concerned, you’re still one of ours and we’ll _never_ leave anyone behind if we can help it.”

“What about the real Shiro?” Hunk asked, unable to stop himself from fiddling his hands together nervously. “He’s still stuck in the astral plane. We gotta get him out.”

“We will,” Keith promised, baring his teeth.

For a second, Hunk could have sworn he saw _fangs_.

“W-Wait,” the other Shiro rasped. “Before the witch cut her connection...I saw Lotor.” Allura sucked in her breath. “He’s coming. He...He wants to get back into the Quintessence field.”

“We’ll take care of it,” Lance spoke up. Hunk had never heard him sound so solemn before.

After they got the other Shiro into a healing pod, Pidge hesitantly asked the question that was on all their minds, “How are we going to form Voltron now?”

Hunk’s eyes were already straying to Keith even before the other boy spoke, “I’ll pilot the Black Lion.”

Any lingering doubts Hunk had vanished when Black let out a triumphant roar.

* * *

As soon as Hunk’s hands gripped Yellow’s controls, he knew that something was different. Maybe it had something to do with their proximity to the portal to the Quintessence field or maybe it was just because they finally had Keith back after being apart for so long, but either way, Hunk could feel it crackle in the air, like the static that came before a storm.

Then, as quiet and gentle as a summer breeze, he heard a familiar voice in his head, one that he hadn’t realized he had been missing for so long until it was whispering through the bond, “ _Trust in yourselves and the Lions. Can you hear them? They’re capable of more than we’ve ever imagined._ ”

 _Shiro_.

They were soon occupied by Lotor’s arrival, but just knowing that Shiro was with right there with them helped.

* * *

In the end, the healing pod wasn’t enough to save the other Shiro. Even if they still had the Castle, they could all feel the inevitable hanging above their heads like a shroud.

“I’m sorry,” Allura said mournfully as she gently laid the man back down on the ground. “Despite all that I learned on Oriande, I can’t…”

Lance wrapped his arms around her and Pidge squeezed her shoulder. Hunk felt like his feet had been nailed to the ground.

Sure, they just saved the universe, but what was the point of all that when they couldn’t even save their _friend_?

Keith clenched his fist. “ _No_ , there must be something you can do!” he insisted, staring at Allura desperately.

The man they had been calling Shiro for months coughed. “Keith,” he whispered, “it’s alright.” With Keith and Lance’s help, he managed to push himself up on his elbows. “Allura, you can save Shiro, the real one. I know you can.”

Allura’s eyes widened but she seemed to understand what he was saying, even as the rest of them shot questioning looks at each other. “Yes, but...what about you?”

The other Shiro gave her a weak smile. “My time is over anyway. And I…” His gaze swept over all of them like he was trying to commit each of their faces to memory. For all that Hunk knew he wasn’t quite _their_ Shiro, there was a kindness in this man’s eyes that made him want to cry. “I want to help, however I can.” he took a deep shuddering breath, “I refuse to let the witch win.”

They all looked to Allura, who stared at this Shiro for a long moment before finally nodding. She leaned down to whisper something that Hunk couldn’t understand in his ear. It sounded Altean.

“It...was an honour being a part of your team,” said the other Shiro, so softly that Hunk had to strain his ears to catch his words. “And I’m sorry...for everything I—”

Lance placed a hand on his shoulder. “Don’t,” he ordered, voice wet with unshed tears, “You _never_ have to apologize for anything.”

The other man smiled, nodded, and closed his eyes.

Allura stood up and walked towards the Black Lion. Back straight and determined strides, she looked every inch the princess she introduced herself to them as all those months ago, back before they fully understood what Voltron was.

(If asked, Hunk couldn’t honestly say he was any closer to understanding Voltron than he had been on the day they found Blue, and he had a sneaking suspicion none of them will ever truly understand it, no matter how much or how long they study the Lions.)

They watched, awed, as Allura pulled _quintessence_ out of the Black Lion before oh-so-carefully transporting it into the clone’s body.

It was only when Shiro shot up with a gasp that Hunk felt the invisible weight on his shoulders grow lighter. They had a long, long way to go until they got back to Earth, but he knew that everything was going to be fine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you sure about that, Hunk?


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Oh quiznak, please tell me you’re not actually _jealous_ of Romelle,” Pidge said from his side, startling him.
> 
> He flinched and shot her a glare. “What the hell are you talking about?” he hissed.
> 
> Pidge nodded towards Hunk and Romelle. “You’ve been glaring daggers at her ever since she started getting chummy with Hunk. That’s not very classy, dude, especially since you were the one who dumped Hunk in the first place.”
> 
>  _That was two years ago_ , a voice in the back of Keith’s head growled defensively.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shoutout to [carriecmoney](https://archiveofourown.org/users/carriecmoney) for helping me with this chapter! 
> 
> This chapter was brought to you by me listening to “Heard it All Before” by Bend Sinister on repeat. Make of that what you will. I hope you enjoy!

Everything was not fine.

The Castle was gone, Shiro was back in the healing pod because his consciousness was apparently having trouble acclimating to the clone’s body, Pidge couldn’t get a hold of anyone in the Coalition, and their Lions barely had enough power to stand up, let alone fly. 

And yet, in spite of everything, Keith couldn’t stop thinking about Hunk’s hand on his knee when they were in the mind-meld. 

“...we may be able to use the Faunatonium as a temporary solution,” Coran was saying. “But we’re going to need a yalmor.” 

“Wait, there are yalmors on this planet?” asked Hunk. 

The last time Keith saw him, Hunk was still recovering from his time in the Druid’s captivity. He’d looked...smaller, meeker. Sure, Hunk had a tendency to get scared easily, but seeing him look so defeated had made Keith want to hit something over and over again until either Hunk stopped looking like that or Keith could no longer lift his hands. 

Now, Hunk looked like he was back to his old self. All he needed was longer hair, a couple more inches on him, some five o’clock shadow, and he would look just like— 

Keith’s breath hitched as he realized the road his thoughts had been straying towards. _He’d look like the Hunk I saw in the Quantum Abyss_. 

He and Krolia only got a handful of visions of the future after the first one of Shiro, which Keith now realized had just come to pass with the discovery of the clone, but there was one that stood out the most in his memory. It was Hunk, at least a few years from now, standing over Pop’s hoverbike in an achingly familiar garage. He was giving the rusted bike a calculating look, brows scrunched up in a way that Keith secretly thought was adorable. 

“ _Well? What’s the diagnosis, doc?_ ” the Keith in the future had asked with a teasing note in his voice. 

The Hunk in the vision turned to him with a grin that made Keith’s chest constrict. “ _Well, it looks like surgery is inevitable, but I think we can fix it._ ” 

Keith had never let anyone touch Pop’s bike before. Not even Shiro. 

“Where do you think we find the Faunatonium? The yalmors have a nose for this stuff!” Coran chirped. 

“Great, looks like we’re going yalmor-hunting,” Hunk sighed in resignation. Keith had to turn away to hide his grin. In spite of everything that was happening, it was comforting to hear Hunk sound like his normal sarcastic self again. 

“Wait,” said Romelle, stopping them all in their tracks. “You just fought Lotor, defeated him, stopped an explosion that could have destroyed reality, took your friend’s consciousness from the Black Lion and put it inside his clone, _and now we’re simply moving on?_ ” 

Before Keith could respond with, ‘ _Yeah, so?_ ’, Hunk replied, “Trust me, I’m always saying the exact same thing, but these guys like to move on.” 

Then he gave her a wry grin and something about that, about how easily Romelle managed to trigger it, made Keith want to step in between them before… 

(Before _what?_ ) 

“I can stay here and keep an eye on Shiro, see if I might be able to help,” said Allura. 

Everyone turned their attention to Keith next. He gulped; give him the Blade Trials any day, being the center of his team’s focus was a hundred times more unnerving. “Keith?” prompted Hunk. “Are you staying, too?” 

Out of the corner of Keith’s eyes, he spotted Romelle folding her arms across her chest and giving all of them an impatient look. 

Keith’s eyes slid over to Shiro. The older man was deathly still in the pod and his new white hair made him look even paler than normal. 

And it reminded Keith far too much of the way Hunk had looked on that Druid’s damn surgical table. 

“No, I’ll come with you,” he said, meeting Hunk’s eyes. 

Hunk blinked in surprise but didn’t say anything. 

* * *

In the end, Lance opted to stay behind, too, citing that there was “no possible way it would take more than five people to catch one overgrown anteater,” but Keith hadn’t missed the way Allura had blushed when he shot her a subtle wink. A small but undeniably pleased smile had been fighting its way to her lips.

Keith had convinced Krolia (along with the wolf) to stay behind as well to, if nothing else, act as backup in case anything went wrong, even though Coran assured them all that there were no predators on this planet, so they should be fine. 

After their disastrous encounter with the yalmor and some kind of snail-like creature, Keith decided that Coran needed to revise his definition of the word ‘should’, because it apparently meant nothing in the face of the universe’s sadistic sense of humour. 

“What if we’re this quizaking small forever?” Romelle wailed. 

Hunk adjusted his boot from where he was sitting next to her in the cave they were currently hiding in. “It’s ‘quiznaking’ and _yes_ , thank you, Romelle! ‘What if’?” 

“Don’t worry, Hunk,” said Keith. He narrowed his eyes at Romelle. “We’re going to get through this.” 

“Maybe we can use the Faunatonium to make us bigger again,” Pidge suggested. She frowned. “But how are we going to find it?” 

Coran snapped his fingers. “With a yalmor! We’ll lure one back here!” 

Romelle gave him the dryest look Keith had ever seen on another living being. “Lure a yalmor? To us? Like _this_?” 

Keith gritted his teeth. He liked Romelle well enough, but where the hell did she get off on criticizing their team like that? She barely knew them! 

“I mean, it’s like I think it and you say it,” Hunk replied with cheerful sarcasm, which only annoyed Keith even more. 

“Oh quiznak, please tell me you’re not actually _jealous_ of Romelle,” Pidge said from his side, startling him. 

He flinched and shot her a glare. “What the hell are you talking about?” he hissed. Thankfully, none of the others seemed to be paying any attention to them. 

Pidge nodded towards Hunk and Romelle. “You’ve been glaring daggers at her ever since she started getting chummy with Hunk. That’s not very classy, dude, especially since you were the one who dumped Hunk in the first place.” 

_That was two years ago_ , a voice in the back of Keith’s head growled defensively, but he stomped down on it. It may have been years for him, but it had only been about a month or so for his friends. 

“I didn’t _dump_ Hunk,” he muttered instead, uncomfortably aware of how much he sounded like a petulant child right now. “We weren’t even really dating in the first place.” A dagger pricked his heart as he said that, though. 

No, he and Hunk were never in a relationship, but he couldn’t deny that there had been something more between them than just friends who slept with each other occasionally. 

And that wasn’t counting what he saw in the Quantum Abyss... 

At that moment, a familiar, deep belly laugh floated across the cave. Keith was already whipping his head toward it, drawn to the sound like flame to air, before he was even aware of what he was doing. 

Hunk had his head thrown back in a laugh, looking more at ease than Keith had seen him in a long time. Romelle was watching him with an accomplished grin on her face. 

“Wow, your eyes really _can_ go Galra,” Pidge whistled. “Lance owes me five dollars.” 

Keith blinked, shook his head, and turned back to face Pidge. She raised an eyebrow at him, looking extremely unimpressed. “Oh, shut up,” he muttered. “And I’m _not_ jealous,” he insisted, his tone turning sulky. 

“Yeaaah, and I’m a seven foot tall purple bear with pink horns and silver wings,” Pidge drawled. Then, more seriously, she continued, “Listen, not that your whole thing with Hunk is any of my business, but if you want my advice, I’d suggest you either take a shit or get off the pot once and for all.” 

Sometimes, it was easy to forget just how foul-mouthed Pidge could be, considering the fact that she was the youngest out of all of them. “Huh?” 

Pidge rolled her eyes. “I’m saying make up your damn mind before anyone else gets hurt.” 

* * *

Keith vehemently vetoed Coran’s idea of using Hunk as bait and offered himself in his place instead.

Despite Hunk’s protests, Keith knew he did the right thing when the other boy smiled gratefully at him. “Thank you,” Hunk whispered to him, sounding immensely relieved. “I mean, I would’ve done it if I had to, but...well…” 

Keith waved his concerns away. “Don’t worry about it. I’ve—uh, got more experience with this kind of thing from my time with the Blades anyway.” 

(Okay, the threat of being eaten by a yalmor was new, but he’d been suspended above enough Galra bases that he felt this was close enough to the truth.) 

He pointedly ignored the knowing looks Pidge kept shooting him as they prepared the trap. 

Keith still wasn’t exactly sure how they managed to pull off Coran’s crazy scheme, but the less said about it, the better. 

When they got back to the Lions, Lance and Krolia met them at Black’s feet with matching smiles on their faces. “What happened? Is Shiro okay?” Pidge asked. 

“I’m fine, Pidge,” came Shiro’s voice. The man himself came down the ramp seconds later. There were bags under his eyes and he was leaning heavily against Allura’s side, but Keith barely noticed any of that. 

Shiro was awake and _alive_. 

Before Keith knew it, he was already sprinting up the ramp and throwing his arms around Shiro. “You’re back,” he whispered, unable to tamp down on the awe in his voice. In spite of everything—Shiro’s illness, the Galra, the clone—Shiro was _still here_. 

“It’s good to be back,” said Shiro, smiling softly at him. 

When Keith eventually let him go to let the others have their turn at hugging him, he caught Hunk just as he was turning away, deliberately avoiding eye contact with Keith. He was frowning. 

_I’d suggest you either take a shit or get off the pot once and for all_ , Pidge’s voice echoed ominously in his head. 

* * *

Hunk was sorting through their food for the upcoming trip when he heard footsteps approaching Yellow. “Hunk? You got a minute?”

Hunk froze before slowly turning around. Keith was standing at the foot of Yellow’s jaw, chest plate gone but still in his leg armour. Sometime between now and dinner, the other boy had apparently tied his hair up into a messy ponytail that revealed just how angular his face had gotten in the months—years?—he was away. Hunk knew, intellectually, that time flowed differently in the Quantum Abyss—not to mention the whole _being able to see visions of the past and future_ thing—but knowing it had been one thing; actually seeing the stark difference standing just a few feet in front of him was a whole other story. 

There was something criminally unfair about how Keith could look so handsome with so little effort. 

“Hunk?” 

Oh, right. Hunk was supposed to answer, wasn’t he? “Y-Yeah, sure! What’s up, man?” 

Keith began to take hesitant steps into Yellow. “I wanted to ask...um, how are you?” 

Hunk couldn’t help raising a skeptical eyebrow. As a general rule, Keith _never_ made small talk. It wasn’t so much that—as Lance often claimed—he was rude (which, Hunk had to admit, was certainly part of it), but more that he just didn’t know how to go about it. 

“I’m fine,” he answered carefully. 

“I mean...how have you _been_? Since…” Keith trailed off, eyes darting to his feet. He looked guilty. 

That was when Hunk got it and a heavy stone lodged itself in his throat. This wasn’t an unexpected conversation, but it had been a while since anyone brought up the Druid and Hunk wasn’t sure how he was supposed to answer. Considering everything that had happened since then—Oriande, the Omega Shield, and Lotor—he hadn’t really had time to think about it. 

“I’m...okay,” he said eventually. “I mean, at this point, I’ve been back longer than I’ve been away, so…” he trailed off with a shrug. 

“You’re sure?” Keith sat down on one of the boxes next to Hunk and gazed up at him earnestly. 

Hunk nodded vigorously. “Y-Yeah. Lance, Pidge, and I had a couple sleepovers and they really helped.” Well, most of the time. His nightmares had tapered off after his second week back in the Castle but, after getting caught by Coran that one time, he was always careful to wait for Lance and Pidge, and occasionally Allura, to fall asleep before going back to his room—just in case. 

Thankfully, Keith seemed to buy his explanation, because he gave Hunk a soft smile that made his throat dry. “Good. I’m glad that they helped. Lance seems to be a big fan of them.” 

Hunk grinned and joined him on the box. “Yeah, I think it’s because he’s so used to sharing his space with four older siblings that the concept of having his own room is almost foreign to him.” 

“If he’d seen some of the foster homes I’d stayed at, he’d be begging for his own room.” 

There was no bitterness in Keith’s voice, though. It was just a simple acknowledgment of the past. 

But Hunk still felt the need to do _something_ , so he placed what he hoped was a comforting hand on the other boy’s shoulder and squeezed it lightly. “Well, you won’t get rid of us that easily. We’re Voltron, which means you’re pretty much stuck with us from now until the end of time.” He thought darkly of just how close they had come to losing Keith all those months ago, before Lotor changed everything. “So no more gallivanting with secret Galra societies and leaving us behind, okay?” 

Even though Hunk didn't actually mention Naxzela by name, Keith must have heard it in his words, because he nodded solemnly. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.” 

And then he slid closer to Hunk until there was barely an inch of space left between them. He was close enough for Hunk to feel his body heat and smell him, his scent a mix of leather, cinnamon, and firewood. “I really missed you.” 

_You_ , not _you all_ , but _you_. 

Hunk stomped down on the tiny flicker of hope in his chest. “We missed you too,” he replied. 

As he said that, he realized that he still hadn’t let go of Keith’s shoulder. And Keith wasn’t making any efforts to get him to, either. Instead, Keith was looking at him like… 

...like the way he used to before Hunk got captured by the Druid. 

Hunk’s dumb, traitorous heart started beating rapidly in his chest. “Keith—” 

Keith surged forward so suddenly that it took Hunk a second to register the warm, wet pair of lips pressed against his. 

Keith was kissing him. 

_Keith_ was _kissing him_. 

It was far, far too easy to fall into the painfully familiar rhythm of kissing Keith even after all this time. Keith brought one of his hands up to cup Hunk’s cheek and Hunk, by instinct, dropped one of his hands on Keith’s waist. 

They still slotted perfectly against each other. 

But there must have been some part of Hunk that remembered that Keith was supposed to be off limits, because he eventually, reluctantly, pushed the other boy away. Keith let out a quiet, confused whine, as if he didn’t think what he did was wrong. 

“W-Wait a minute, time out!” Hunk gasped for breath, holding Keith at arms’ length by his shoulders. Keith was blinking at him like _he_ was the weird one for _not_ wanting to cross the boundaries that _Keith_ had set. “Wh-What are you doing?” Hunk swallowed. “I thought you said…” 

Keith blushed, but thankfully didn’t seem to need Hunk to elaborate on the ‘breakup’. “I’ve been...rethinking that,” he said haltingly. “If you’re still interested, I was thinking we could...try again?” 

“Just like before?” Hunk asked shakily, barely daring to believe what he was hearing. 

Keith nodded. “Yeah, and—um, maybe more?” He sounded uncertain, as if Hunk could ever say ‘ _no_ ’ to him. 

Hope, warm and gentle as sunshine, rose within Hunk. Despite the staccato rhythm his heart was pounding out, he somehow managed to reply, “Y-Yeah. I’d like that.” 

Keith’s smile returned and it did nothing to help the way Hunk’s heart seemed to be trying to beat itself into an early grave. “I’m glad,” said Keith. He gently grasped Hunk’s chin between his thumb and index finger, and leaned in to kiss him again. 

Hunk loosened his grip on the other boy and pulled him closer into the kiss. He was sorely tempted to pinch himself just in case this turned out to be a dream, but that meant letting go of Keith and...well, he knew where his priorities laid. 

Keith moaned into the kiss and wrapped his arms around Hunk, sliding completely onto his lap. Hunk gasped and his hands fell on Keith’s hips, steadying him. Keith quickly took advantage of that and pushed his tongue in Hunk’s mouth, making him moan. 

Hunk had always hoped that Keith would return his feelings one day but never truly _expected_ it to happen. And especially not after everything with Shiro— 

Hunk abruptly pulled back. It took Keith a couple seconds to catch up as he slowly blinked his eyes open. “Hunk?” he said, sounding dazed. “What’s wrong?” 

“What about Shiro?” Hunk asked. 

Keith’s brows pinched together in confusion. “What about him?” 

Hunk blew out a breath. “I mean...you told him you loved him,” he said, picking his words carefully. “Is that—what did you mean by that?” 

Keith frowned, still looking confused. “What I feel for Shiro doesn’t matter,” he said, stroking Hunk’s shoulders. “I’m supposed to end up with you anyway; the Quantum Abyss showed me that.” 

Icy cold dread spread through Hunk’s body, weighing down on his limbs like chains. 

_I’m supposed to end up with you anyway._

Hunk dropped his hands to his sides and Keith stiffened in his lap. “Hunk?” 

Hunk couldn’t bring himself to look at Keith. “Do you even want me?” he asked, unable to keep the bitterness out of his voice. His own words stung like nettles as they fell from his tongue. 

Keith, to his credit, seemed to finally register that something was wrong, because he let go of Hunk, rose to his feet, and stepped back, putting about a foot of space between them. “Of course I do,” he said, still sounding painfully earnest. 

Hunk normally found Keith endearing but right now, he had to clench his fists to keep from throttling him. “So, you’re telling me that if Shiro were to come in here right now and confess his feelings for you, you wouldn’t pick him over me?” He glanced up at him through his fringe. 

Keith’s eyes widened. “What—I told you it doesn’t matter! Shiro and I are never going to happen!” He sounded genuinely confused, too, and that somehow made everything worse. 

Hunk could feel the nettles in his throat now, but it was a distant ache, like a day-old bruise he couldn’t stop poking. Even the anger swirling in the pit of his stomach was muted by the overwhelming numbness engulfing his body. 

“But I’m still your second choice, right?” he asked with far more calmness than he felt. 

Keith stumbled back, realization beginning to dawn in his eyes. “I—That’s not what I…” 

They both knew that Keith was a shitty liar and the fact that he couldn’t even finish that sentence said a lot more than anything else he could have possibly been thinking. 

Keith swallowed. “Hunk…” He actually sounded _concerned_. 

Hunk couldn’t take it anymore. “I think you should go,” he said quietly, looking down at his hands. He didn’t remember there being as many scars on them a year ago. “And...I don’t think going back to how we were before will be a good idea.” 

“Wait, Hunk—” 

“Please.” 

Hunk didn’t want to beg, but he wanted nothing more than to be alone right now. 

Keith must have sensed it because Hunk heard him whisper, “Okay,” before he began to make his way out of Yellow. 

Hunk waited until he couldn’t hear his footsteps anymore before he silently asked Yellow to shut his jaw. Yellow obeyed, plunging them into darkness that was punctuated by the soft blue glow of the Lion’s emergency lights. Yellow rumbled anxiously as Hunk got up from his seat and dragged himself towards the small room tucked away to the side of the cockpit. 

“I’ll be fine,” said Hunk, patting the walls of his Lion in what he hoped was a soothing manner. “I just...need to be alone for a while.” 

He spared just enough time to take his armour off before collapsing on the bed. He closed his eyes and, for once, wasn’t afraid of the prospect of nightmares plaguing his sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I realized, as I was planning this chapter about 5 chapters back, that I had basically turned Keith into an accidental fuckboy and had to sit down for a bit as I came to terms with this revelation. 
> 
> It’s ok, I will help Keith come back from this. Somehow. 
> 
> Once again, thank you for reading! Comments and kudos are much appreciated ♥


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “ _What the fuck did you do?_ ” Pidge screeched, glaring intensely at Keith.
> 
> His eyes darted to Krolia but she proved to be of no help at all. Instead, she leaned against the wall and crossed her arms over her chest, giving him an expectant look as well.
> 
> Damn it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies again for the delay, but I hope you enjoy this chapter! I had to split it in two once I hit 5k so the next one might be a bit shorter, but what I will say is I'm _really_ looking forward to the one after that.
> 
> Once again, a million thanks to [carriecmoney](https://archiveofourown.org/users/carriecmoney) for helping me give this chapter the cleanup it sorely needed.

There was a second when Hunk woke up the next morning where he forgot that they weren’t on the Castle anymore. He was back in his old room, even though it seemed a little darker than usual and the bed felt narrower than it should be.

Then he heard Yellow rumbling in his mind, louder and much closer than he was used to, and he remembered.

_I’m supposed to end up with you anyway; the Quantum Abyss showed me that._

Each word felt like a cut on his skin and, if it weren’t for Hunk’s empty stomach, he was pretty sure he would’ve thrown up by now.

The last time he felt this terrible after waking up was the morning of his very first midterm at the Garrison. He’d spent nearly half an hour in the bathroom upchucking what felt like every single organ in his body. Lance had wordlessly joined him in the bathroom, alternating between wiping sweat from his face with a wet towel and rubbing his back.

He groaned as he pushed himself up and started going about his normal morning routine. He felt Yellow gently nudge him at the back of his mind, clearly worried.

“I’m fine,” Hunk insisted. He closed his eyes and concentrated on breathing. “I’ll be fine.”

He had to be.

He was the last to arrive for breakfast at the haphazard campsite they’d set up the night before. Even though he _knew_ he shouldn’t, he couldn’t help glancing over at Keith as he sat down. The other boy’s hair was even more of a mess than usual and there were bags under his downcast eyes as he ducked his head at Hunk's entrance.

 _Good_ , Hunk thought with a rush of vindication.

“Hey, Keith,” said Lance, “Red is pissed at you right now, you know anything about that?”

Keith scowled. “Uh, no? And it’s none of your business even if I did.”

Lance threw his hands up, nearly upending his bowl. “Uh, it kind of is since I’m the one piloting him!”

“Are they always like this?” Romelle asked.

Allura shrugged. “They love each other, really.” She paused for a second before adding, “Deep, deep down.”

Aside from Lance and Keith’s bickering, breakfast passed without any more incidents, even though Hunk wanted to flinch every time he heard Keith’s voice.

_I’m supposed to end up with you anyway; the Quantum Abyss showed me that._

Love, Hunk decided, fucking _sucked_ and he would like to evict his feelings from his person as soon as possible, thanks.

After breakfast, they spent a few minutes charting their course back to Earth ( _To home_ , Hunk thought longingly), with Krolia occasionally interjecting with a suggestion and filling in any gaps Coran had.

It was only when they moved onto figuring out which passengers were flying in which Lion that things got a bit...weird.

“So the mice are going with Hunk, the wolf with Allura, and Kaltenecker with me,” said Lance, who had somehow taken the reins of organizing their passengers. “I think Romelle should go with Hunk—”

Keith choked out a sound that Hunk had never heard him make in all the time he had known him. It was a cross between a dying cat and a fox in heat.

“Keith? Are you alright?” Krolia asked.

“I’m fine,” Keith wheezed, patting his chest. “I just...had some food goo go down the wrong way.”

Pidge crossed her arms. “Are you sure that’s all?” she asked in a very chilly and pointed tone.

Keith narrowed his eyes at her but Hunk didn’t miss the faint blush that dusted his cheeks. “ _Yes, Pidge. I am._ ”

“Oookay,” Lance drawled, raising a skeptical eyebrow at both of them. “I am not gonna even touch that with a ten foot pole.” He cleared his throat. “Anyway, that leaves Coran, Shiro, and Krolia.”

“Shiro and Krolia are coming with me,” Keith declared instantly.

 _Of course Shiro’s going_ , Hunk thought viciously.

He didn’t realize he’d said that out loud as well until everyone went quiet and turned to stare at him in shock, because apparently it was still too early in the day for his brain-to-mouth filter to function properly. Hunk never understood the phrase ‘you could hear a pin drop’ as keenly as he did at that moment.

_Aw crap._

Keith’s face flushed crimson; a torrent of emotions surged through him—disbelief, embarrassment, and, most prominently, incandescent _rage_.

(It occurred to Hunk then, or at least a small part of him, that he may have just crossed a line.)

“What the hell is _that_ supposed to mean?” Keith growled, taking a threatening step towards him with his shoulders hunched—an offensive stance.

(But the rest of Hunk—a raw, still bleeding open wound—didn’t give a damn because he was _angry_ and _hurt_ , and his skin was itching with the desperate need to lash out. To make Keith feel the same pain Hunk had been living with for months, even if it was only a fraction of it.)

“You heard me,” Hunk snapped. “We all know you’ll always choose Shiro over the rest of us, except you’re too _chickenshit_ to ever tell him why.”

Keith’s nostrils flared, reminding Hunk of a bull about to charge. “That’s funny, because I don’t remember you ever complaining about that until last night!”

“Keith…” Shiro took a hesitant step forward, eyeing the two of them worriedly.

Now, Hunk _knew_ that none of this was Shiro’s fault, but that didn’t stop him from seeing red all the same as Shiro— _perfect, wonderful Shiro who could do no wrong_ —entered his peripheral to clean up yet another one of Keith’s messes.

Whipping his head back at Keith, he snarled, “Are you seriously suggesting that I’m supposed to be _happy_ that I’m your second choice?”

Keith’s glare _burned_ and if Hunk weren’t so furious, he was sure he’d be cowering under the force of it right now. “When the hell did I say that—”

“ _Well then!_ ” Coran interrupted loudly, jumping right in between them and subsequently blocking them from each other’s view. “We’re not getting any closer to Earth just by sitting around here. How about I ride with Allura, Krolia with Keith, Shiro with Pidge, and Romelle with Lance, hmm? We can always reorganize at our next stop.”

“That sounds wonderful, Coran,” Allura exclaimed, equally loud. “Let’s get to it then, shall we?”

The way she was looking at Hunk told him that it wasn’t a suggestion.

Hunk closed his eyes, inhaled through his nose, and exhaled through his mouth. The reprieve didn’t erase all his anger, but it calmed him down enough to bite out, “Fine.”

“...Fine,” Keith echoed at Coran’s back, sounding just as reluctant.

It didn’t take them long to break camp and get settled in their Lions, but it wasn’t until they were running their final checks that Keith yelled into the comms, “ _What the hell? Black isn’t responding to me._ ”

As angry as Hunk was, he had enough sense to recognize that this was Bad—not just for Keith, but for all of them.

“ _What do you mean he isn’t responding?_ ” Allura barked.

Before Keith could respond, the Black Lion himself let out a powerful, intimidating roar that Hunk was sure he could feel in his soul. It reminded all of them exactly why _he_ was the head of Voltron.

They all heard Shiro’s breath hitch. “ _I...I think Black wants me to pilot him. At least for now._ ”

“ _What?_ ” Allura and Keith shouted at the same time.

“ _Seriously? Are you telling me we have to play musical Lions_ again?” Lance groaned.

Quietly, Hunk heard Romelle mutter, “ _Why the quiznak would the Lions be musical?_ ”

“ _Allura, what do you think?_ ” Shiro asked.

There was silence on Allura’s line for a few seconds until she finally sighed, “ _Fine. Shiro, go with Keith. Everyone else, stay exactly where you are._ ”

For half a heartbeat, Hunk sorely wanted to give into the childish urge to say something scathing about this new arrangement, but his anger was already diminishing from the forest fire it had been just a few moments ago into a simmer, leaving him feeling hollow at the end of it all.

Instead, he kept silent as they completed their checks and Allura’s mice scuttled around the cockpit, which provided some much needed distraction. At Shiro’s go-ahead, they finally took off.

Hunk could hear Yellow purring soothingly at the back of his mind, followed by the sensation of a cat curling up in his lap.

He muted his comms and patted his console. “Thanks, bud,” he whispered. “Sorry for losing my temper back there.”

Yellow let out a soft rumble. _Not second_ , his Lion seemed to be saying.

Hunk flinched but didn’t respond.

Ten minutes later, the ‘incoming transmission’ light flashed on his screen; it was Lance.

Hunk briefly debated ignoring him but dismissed that idea as quickly as it came. This was _Lance_ —ignoring him was like trying to resist a hurricane. Impossible.

He accepted Lance’s transmission and braced himself as his best friend’s face appeared on his screen with Romelle hovering curiously at his shoulder. “ _Sooo_ ,” Lance began far too casually, “ _wanna tell me what the hell_ that _was all about?_ ”

* * *

They had barely cleared the atmosphere for more than five minutes when Black’s console lit up with an incoming transmission from the Green Lion.

Keith immediately recalled Pidge’s words yesterday. _Make up your damn mind before anyone else gets hurt._

“Wait, Shiro—”

But it was too late. Shiro was already accepting her call.

The last time Keith had seen Pidge this angry was when they were facing down the Druid during Hunk’s rescue. It was… _unsettling_ to find himself the target of her wrath now.

“Pidge,” Shiro began, “what’s wrong—”

“ _What the_ fuck _did you do?_ ” Pidge screeched, glaring intensely at Keith.

His eyes darted to Krolia but she proved to be of no help at all. Instead, she leaned against the wall and crossed her arms over her chest, giving him an expectant look as well.

Damn it.

“I don’t know!” Keith protested. “I tried talking to him last night, just like you told me to, but he suddenly started getting upset and asked me to leave, so I did.”

If Keith thought that the way Hunk looked at him after his rescue—like he was _afraid_ of him—had been horrible enough, then the way he was looking at Keith last night—heartbroken, _shattered_ —was infinitely worse.

It was getting harder to hold onto his anger in the face of that memory. And, more than anything else, he just wanted to _fix_ this, whatever ‘this’ was, so they could move on.

His cheeks grew warm as he remembered how it felt to have Hunk’s strong yet gentle hands on him again. It was more than just a physical thing, it felt like _home_ , like he was finally back where he belonged.

He didn’t realize how much he’d missed it until now.

“ _You must have said_ something _because Hunk wasn’t even this upset when you broke up with him_ ,” Pidge insisted.

To Keith’s utter mortification, that garnered him a concerned look from Shiro. “‘Broke up’? When did you—uh, start dating?”

 _Right_ , Keith thought somberly, _he wasn’t exactly around for that._

As he fumbled to answer, Pidge cut in, “ _They were fuckbuddies, apparently. Then Casanova here decided to dump Hunk when he realized that Hunk had caught feelings._ ”

Keith winced because—well, he couldn’t exactly argue that, even if Pidge’s description was a bit...crude. And even if he did, he had a feeling he was going to come out of this looking even worse than he already was.

Shiro furrowed his brows for a moment before recognition dawned in his eyes. He blushed and turned his attention back to the console. “R-Right. I...remember now,” he stuttered. “I—um, still have some of the clone’s memories.”

Suddenly, all Keith could hear was Lance screaming at him all those months ago, _You_ knew _he was in love with you but instead of leaving him alone, you took advantage of his feelings because, hey, at least_ someone _was willing to fuck you, even if it wasn’t Shiro, right?_

Shiro remembered.

Fuck, Shiro _remembered_.

Keith groaned and very, very briefly considered ejecting himself out of Black. “Can we _please_ discuss this later?” he begged.

Pidge’s scoff was all the answer he needed. “ _Kogane, either you tell me exactly what happened right now or I’m inviting everyone else into this transmission so_ Hunk _can tell us what happened._ ”

She wasn’t bluffing.

Keith may have been reckless, but even he knew when to let Pidge have the last word.

He sighed, leaning against the wall opposite Krolia and crossing his arms. What remained of his anger and frustration was already going out of him like a candle being snuffed out, replaced by exhaustion from...well, _everything_. “Last night, I told Hunk that I...wanted to start over,” he began. “He said ‘yes’ at first, but then he asked me about...about Shiro.” He swallowed.

He steadfastly kept his head down, even though he could feel the heavy weight of Shiro’s gaze on him.

“ _And then?_ ”

“I told him my...my feelings didn’t matter because the Quantum Abyss—”

Keith cut himself off as he replayed his own words in his head.

_What I feel for Shiro doesn’t matter. I’m supposed to end up with you anyway; the Quantum Abyss showed me that._

_Oh. Shit._

“Shit,” Keith hissed just before slapping his palm over his face. He heard Krolia let out a low whistle, clearly having just figured it out, too.

He said that. He really said that out loud to Hunk. To the boy whose last memory of Keith, before the whole mess with Lotor and the Altean colony, was a Keith who was in love with Shiro and no one else.

Fuck, no wonder Hunk was pissed.

“ _Because the Quantum Abyss_ what, _Keith?_ ” Pidge pressed, her tone becoming dangerously hard.

Still keeping his hand over his face, Keith mumbled, “Because the Quantum Abyss showed me that we were going to end up together anyway.” He braced himself.

Silence rang deafeningly in the cockpit for a beat. Then, “ _Hoooly_ crap. _Keith, I could_ strangle _you right now. You basically told Hunk that you only want to be with him because you think you’re_ supposed _to, not because you actually_ care!”

Keith winced. “I know, I know. I’m an idiot.”

“ _Oh please, I speak three languages and there aren’t enough words in any of them to encompass the levels of stupidity you just achieved. Calling yourself an idiot is_ almost _a compliment, you_ dumkop.”

And, just to add more insult to injury, Black chose that moment to hum in agreement, which explained why he’d refused to let Keith pilot him earlier. Distantly, Keith heard Red grumbling along with his brother.

Keith began reaching for the console. “I need to apologize to him. Explain everything and—”

“ _And tell him _what, _exactly?_ ” Pidge asked. Her voice was still as brittle as shattered glass.__

Keith opened his mouth to answer—

—but his mind was stubbornly drawing a blank.

Fuck, Pidge was right. What _could_ he even say after all that? And would Hunk even listen?

Shiro delicately cleared his throat. There was a very noticeable blush on his cheeks but he gamely kept his head up. “I think it would be best if you think about what you really want before doing anything else,” he offered.

“Shiro’s right,” Krolia added. “A break will help you clear your head.”

 _But what if it’s too late?_ , Keith thought, slumping against the wall.

He glanced at Shiro, recalling the pain he felt when the other man left him the first time for Kerberos, and again when Iverson had the gall to look him in the eye and utter the words, “ _Pilot error_.”

And once more, when Shiro’s clone sneered at him, “ _I should have abandoned you, just like your parents did. They saw that you were broken,_ worthless. _I should have seen it, too._ ”

But all of that was a dull ache now, had been for a while, and simply didn’t compare to the paralyzing terror that trembled through him like a fissure at the thought of losing Hunk like this.

He thought of Hunk, a solid, soothing presence at his side while in the Weblum, casually joking about his Galra heritage like it wasn’t a big deal—like this side of him wasn’t something to be hated or feared; Hunk, smiling sleepily at him after sex with a cute post-orgasm flush on his face, softly asking Keith to stay.

He thought of Hunk, giving himself up to that goddamn bounty hunter all those months ago for _Keith_ , and the fissure in his chest widened.

* * *

Lance was already waiting at the bottom of Black’s jaw when Keith stepped out. The taller boy was wearing the same furious expression he’d had on his face when Hunk got captured.

Keith didn’t even bother trying to dodge when Lance swung his fist at him, connecting straight with his cheek and nearly sending him to the ground. He waved off Shiro’s shouts of alarm as he regained his bearings.

Ignoring the throbbing in his cheek, he looked up to meet Lance’s icy blue gaze. “Okay, I deserved that,” he admitted.

Lance jabbed his finger at Keith’s chest. “ _Fix. This_ ,” he snarled. “Then, once you’ve done that, _stay away from him_.” Before Keith could say anything, Lance was already stalking back in the direction of their campsite.

Behind Keith, he heard Krolia whistle, “Damn, he’s got a strong right hook, that one.”

Keith glared at her from over his shoulder. “You’re my mother, aren’t you supposed to be on my side?” he groaned, but only half-heartedly.

Krolia chuckled and joined him. “I _am_ on your side,” she said emphatically as she gingerly cupped his cheek to examine it. Keith could already feel it beginning to swell a little and wasn’t looking forward to the bruising tomorrow. “And it’s precisely because I’m your mother that I agree it is in your best interest to do as he says if you want to avoid any more friendly fire like that in the future.”

Keith swallowed. _I want to_ , he thought desperately.

Glancing over at the campsite, he caught a glimpse of Hunk getting out of his Lion and his heart sank to the pit of his stomach. _But I don’t know how._

* * *

To say that dinner that night (or what passed as night on this planet) was tense was like describing the disaster of the Kerberos mission as a ‘hiccup’.

Keith supposed he should have considered himself lucky that the rest of the team didn’t outright exile him, but there was no missing the way Lance, Allura, and Pidge were clustered like a barrier around Hunk, who was studiously avoiding eye contact with Keith, on the other side of the fire. Judging by the death glares they were shooting him, Keith half-suspected that he was going to have to sleep with one eye open tonight.

Coran and Romelle sat in the center, a more neutral position, but Keith could tell from the disapproving frowns that Coran occasionally sent him that he wasn’t pleased, either. Not that he could blame the man.

Shiro and Krolia, along with the wolf, were the only ones sitting beside him. Keith would have been annoyed by how patronizing it was if he wasn’t pathetically grateful for their support.

Just as dinner was wrapping up, and Keith was ready to sprint back to Black and hide in the Lion for the rest of the evening, he caught Romelle giving him a calculating look.

She cocked her head to the side, blinked at him twice, and grinned. It wasn’t a nice grin.

Every single one of Keith’s instincts was instantly on high alert.

Romelle stood up with the grace of a swan, and sauntered over to Hunk and the others. Keith was pretty sure she was putting a deliberate sway to her hips.

Then, with a wink at Keith, she dropped down right next to Hunk, squeezing into the sliver of space between him and Lance. “Oh, _Hunk_ ,” she purred as she practically plastered herself to his side and— _oh for fuck’s sake_ —actually batted her eyelashes at him. “Thank you ever so much for dinner tonight, it was absolutely _delicious_.”

Hunk blushed. “Oh! Um, you’re welcome. It was no biggie, really. You just gotta figure out what chemicals are in each ingredient then mix the right ones together to get the flavours you want—anyone can do it.”

“Maybe you can teach me some time,” said Romelle, somehow leaning even closer into his personal space. She placed a hand on his arm and squeezed.

Someone let out a croak. Keith didn’t realize that _he_ had made that noise until everyone turned to stare at him. His wolf gently headbutted his leg.

Lance and Pidge narrowed their eyes at him. “What’s the matter, Keith?” Lance asked, as if daring him to say something incriminating.

Hunk shot him an inquisitive but guarded look.

Meanwhile, Romelle was grinning innocently at Keith, her hand _still_ resting on Hunk’s arm _just so_. It wasn’t quite proprietary yet, but it made Keith’s blood boil all the same.

 _She’s doing this on purpose, that_ bitch, Keith realized. And the worst part was it was _working_.

But he quickly stomped down on his anger and concentrated on breathing out through his nose. More than anything else, he didn’t want to do anything that would risk another screaming match between himself and Hunk.

“It’s nothing,” Keith finally answered. He dumped his leftovers into the fire and scrambled out of his seat. “I’m—uh, gonna turn in for the night.”

Then he fled, feeling uncomfortably like a dog running away with his tail tucked between his legs.

A few seconds later, he heard Lance wondering aloud, “Hey, is it just me or did Keith’s eyes go Galra for a second there?”

It was followed by Pidge smoothly replying, “It’s not just you. By the way, you owe me five dollars when we get back to Earth.”

The last thing he heard before the campsite was completely out of earshot was Hunk asking, “What the quiznak was _that_ about?”

Keith didn’t stop walking until he reached Black. He could still feel the Lion’s disgruntlement but he was at least kind enough to drop his barrier when Keith approached him.

 _Thanks_ , Keith told him.

Black made an indignant grumbling sound. _You hurt the pride_ , he seemed to say.

Keith winced, feeling the accusation as keenly as a stab wound. _I know, but I’m going to fix it_ , he promised. Even if he didn’t quite know _how_ yet.

Still jittery with the last dregs of his anger and the sheer _everything-ness_ of today, he climbed up to sit at the top of Black’s head, which overlooked the campsite. He could vaguely make out the dark shapes of his friends against the soft orange glow of the fire.

“There you are,” came Shiro’s voice.

Keith whipped his head up to find Shiro and the wolf standing just a few feet away from them.

“You didn’t tell me the wolf could teleport,” Shiro chuckled.

The wolf bounded towards Keith, dropped onto his belly, and gave a pitiful whine.

Despite his mood, Keith found himself smiling. “Sorry, buddy, I don’t have any treats on me right now.” He reached down to pet the wolf anyway, who seemed to accept it with the air of a gracious lord.

 _Spoiled mutt_ , Keith thought fondly.

Shiro dropped down to sit cross-legged next to him, rubbing his right shoulder as he did so. Even though Allura was positive that his body was now completely free of Haggar’s influence, they’d all agreed to keep the prosthetic deactivated for the moment as a precaution, Shiro especially.

Still, Keith knew the other man was _hating_ every second of this. It wasn’t because it was detrimental to him personally, but because, in his eyes, not being able to fight as well as he used to meant he was useless.

Keith wanted to reassure him that wasn’t the case, but then again, this was _Shiro_ —the man who still insisted on flying to the farthest reaches of Earth’s galaxy in spite of his illness. His stubbornness easily gave Keith’s a run for its money.

(Hell, it could even rival _Hunk’s_ , if Keith were honest.)

“So what brings you up here?” Keith asked.

Shiro grinned wryly at him. “I figured _someone_ had to make sure you were okay.” He paused and his grin turned sheepish. “And, if needed, to keep you from maiming our new Altean guest.”

Keith groaned, dropped his head into his arms, and drew his knees up to his chest. “Was I really that obvious?”

“Yeaaah, but only to everyone who isn’t Hunk.”

Keith groaned again. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he swore he heard Red _laughing_ —or at least making a sound that was the Lion equivalent of laughter, the brat.

“You know she’s playing you, right?” added Shiro.

“I know,” Keith mumbled. That still didn’t stop him from wanting to rip her hand off of Hunk and bare his teeth at her. And he knew there was only so much he could chalk down to his Galra DNA.

He heard Shiro shift by his side. “You really care about Hunk, huh?” he asked, voice taking on a strangely considering tone.

Keith finally raised his head at that. “Of course,” he said immediately. “He’s my friend, and…”

_He’s the first person who made me laugh—really laugh—since you left. He was also the first person who actually made me feel comfortable in my skin after the Blade Trials._

_And I’ve never felt this way about anyone else before—_

He trailed off as his thoughts began to go down a path he wasn’t sure he was ready to explore just yet.

Silence descended on them, hanging in the air like a held breath. The wolf was now curled up around Keith’s feet like a hundred and fifty-pound blanket.

“Keith,” Shiro said suddenly, turning to face him fully. His silver grey eyes were unreadable but solemn. “I love you.”

Keith’s breath caught in his throat.

Keith had imagined those words falling from Shiro’s mouth so many times that, for a heartbeat, he wasn’t sure whether he was in a daydream or not. But no, Shiro was _right there_ —sitting just close enough to Keith that he could feel his body heat and get a faint hint of his scent (a mix of lavender and sea salt).

He opened his mouth. “I…”

The words, _I love you too_ , were hovering right on the edge of his tongue, just begging for him to finish shaping them into existence. “I…”

But Keith, no matter how loudly those words rang in his head, just couldn’t say them. A needle caught in the back of his throat.

And then, without warning, all Keith could see was Hunk.

Hunk grinning at him from ear to ear during their very first week in space, one arm wrapped around his shoulders, as they celebrated being able to form Voltron.

Hunk quietly humming to himself in the kitchen and shyly sneaking bits of food to Keith even while he scolded Lance for trying to steal a bite.

Hunk’s warm hand on his knee in the mind-meld, soft and encouraging.

Keith looked at Shiro, _really_ looked at him for the first time since Allura brought him back to them, and all he could remember at that moment were all the times he had to watch the older man’s back, constantly moving further and further away.

He was always chasing, it felt like, never reaching. Admiring but never able to touch, to really see into the deepest parts of Shiro.

“I love you too,” Keith finally blurted out. “But not like that! I think—no, I _know_ I love Hunk, so…” He swallowed, but the needle was no longer lodged in his throat, finally making it just a little easier to breathe. There was a lot more he knew he wanted to say—about Hunk, specifically—but the words weren't fully formed yet. And even if they were, it felt almost wrong to share them with Shiro before he could share them with Hunk. “I’m sorry, Shiro," he finally said, wincing and burying his nose in the wolf’s fur in anticipation of the disappointment.

But then he felt Shiro’s hand on his shoulder and forced himself to look up. There was no hurt or anger in Shiro’s eyes. Instead, he looked _relieved_. “Good,” he said.

Keith was confused. “Good?” he repeated, one syllable feeling like three.

Shiro leaned back on his hands and gazed down at the campsite. “It looks like you’ve made your choice.”

_Make up your damn mind before anyone else gets hurt._

“So you don’t…”

Shiro turned to him with a painfully fond expression on his face. “You’re like a brother to me,” he said, echoing Keith’s words to him after their first fight with Zarkon, when they were stuck on that planet with the horrible dinosaur-like aliens. “And I love you. I’m only sorry it couldn’t be in the way you want me to.”

The words stung, but not as much as Keith had expected. He let himself absorb the pain for a moment, feel it blaze to its highest peak like a wildfire.

Then he breathed, letting it go out, smoke and all, and the weight on his shoulders grew lighter.

“I should’ve talked to you about this a long time ago,” said Shiro, sounding ashamed.

Keith shook his head. “I...don’t think I would’ve been too receptive of that, actually,” he admitted. He remembered standing outside Shiro’s room on the night Hunk had been captured, thinking to himself that he should address all the dirty laundry that Lance had aired out earlier that day on the bridge.

He also remembered turning on his heels instead, too cowardly to face what he suspected he already knew, then, was inevitable.

“Are we okay?” Shiro asked, eyes shining with concern.

Keith smiled—it wasn’t even forced. “Yeah, we are.” He paused and his smile turned sly. “What _would_ you have done if I’d said I loved you back?”

“Gone with Plan B.”

“Plan B?”

“Ask Allura to put me back in Black’s consciousness.”

Shiro’s tone was mostly joking but Keith detected a very real hint of panic there and couldn’t help snorting. It turned into a full-blown giggle at the scandalized rumble that Black emitted, as if declaring, _You will do no such thing!_

Shiro smirked and patted Black soothingly on the snout. “Don’t worry, I don’t have any plans of dying again any time soon.”

Black quickly became pleased and it was a sentiment that Keith shared.

He knew this wasn’t the end of it, that the feelings he had been carrying for years weren’t going to just disappear overnight, but it was strangely freeing to accept that there was an expiry date on them now. He imagined he could already feel them being exorcized from his body, little by little.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shoutout and thanks to [Chronolith](https://archiveofourown.org/users/chronolith) for giving me the inspiration to add more jealous!Keith shenanigans than I originally planned. I've now decided that Romelle is basically the embodiment of the Elmo on fire gif.
> 
> Thank you for reading! Comments and kudos are much appreciated!


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Wow, a lot of things have really changed over the past few weeks,” Lance noted.
> 
> “Weeks?” Acxa asked. “What are you talking about?”
> 
>  _What was_ she _talking about?_
> 
> Allura frowned at her. “The last time we saw you, you were fighting us alongside Lotor.” 
> 
> Acxa bit her lip. “That was three decaphoebs ago. No one has seen you since your fight with Lotor.”
> 
> What?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess who just turned 28 yesterday? This gal!💃🏻
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter! It’s kind of an interlude but I figured we needed it after the last couple of chapters :’)
> 
> I’ve also added some gorgeous art done by the lovely [@blurilines](https://twitter.com/blurilines)! Please cry about it with me.

The next morning, Hunk was in the middle of a conversation about traditional Altean foods with Allura and Romelle when Pidge whistled, “Damn, Keith, you’re almost as purple as your mom now.”

Confused, Hunk followed her gaze and had to blink when he finally got a good glimpse of the boy in question.

A dark purple bruise had blossomed over his left cheek overnight like an ugly flower. Keith hadn’t mentioned any injuries yesterday, but Hunk remembered thinking that his cheek had looked a little swollen.

“Really, I hadn’t noticed,” Keith drawled. With his wolf trailing behind him like a shadow, he grabbed two bowls of food goo from Coran and quietly thanked him before taking a seat a few feet away from the rest of them, much like last night. He gently set one of the bowls down on the ground; his wolf pounced on it with gusto.

His lips curled into a fond smile as he watched his wolf eat, and something in Hunk’s stomach fluttered at the sight. Keith rested his chin on one hand, flinching when his fingers made contact with his bruise on accident.

Out of the corner of his eye, Hunk spotted Lance smirking, looking immensely pleased with himself. In spite of the hurt still rooted in his chest, Hunk couldn’t help wincing in sympathy.

He turned to Lance and opened his mouth, but Lance beat him to it before he could speak, glaring as he said, “ _No_ , absolutely not."

“Come on, you don’t even know what I was going to ask!”

“Actually, I do, because I know you.” Lance sniffed. “And the answer is still ‘no’, I refuse to share my bruise cream with Keith.”

“Aren’t you supposed to still be furious with him?” Romelle asked, raising an eyebrow at Hunk. “Or is this another weird Earthling thing?”

“Nah, Hunk’s just too nice for his own good sometimes,” said Pidge.

Hunk ignored them and glanced back at Keith, who was chewing his food with a grimace. When he caught Hunk looking at him, Hunk blushed and whipped his head back down to his bowl.

A couple seconds passed before he had the courage to look up again, only to find Keith staring intently at his own bowl with a faint blush on his unblemished cheek.

If Hunk were honest, he was curious about what the other boy was thinking right now.

“That looks like it hurts, though,” he pointed out.

“Well, then he should’ve thought about that before he decided to enroll in the Academy of Assholes, top of his class,” Lance told him airily.

It was Allura who reached into her pocket and pulled out a familiar-looking tube with Altean script written on the side. She handed it over to Hunk. “Here, use as much as you need to. I have enough.”

“Allura!” Lance sputtered.

“Keith is one of my Paladins and therefore my responsibility,” Allura explained in a calm and regal tone. “More importantly, he’s still our friend.” She paused and tilted her head, as if listening to something. “And it appears that the Black Lion is no longer upset with him.”

Lance sighed, “Yeah, Red isn’t as grumpy with Keith as he was yesterday. I mean, _I_ still am, but I guess something must’ve happened.”

 _Huh, wonder what it was_ , Hunk thought. He stood up, took a deep breath, and made his way over to Keith.

He heard Romelle wonder aloud, “This is going to end either very badly or hilariously, isn’t it?”

“Either way, it’ll be something,” Pidge chimed in.

 _Gee, thanks for the support, guys_.

Hunk was only a couple paces away from Keith when he stopped, swallowing down his trepidation. Keith didn’t seem to have noticed him yet, but his wolf perked its head up and gave him a curious chirp. Hunk glanced back at Lance and the others for support, only to find them staring at him like they were watching a movie. Romelle, at least, looked like she could be eating popcorn right now if they had any.

Hunk steeled himself with one last breath before clearing his throat. “Hey, Keith?”

Keith’s head shot up so quickly that, for a second, Hunk was worried the other boy was going to give himself whiplash. “Hunk!” he stammered. “Um, hi?”

Hunk had never seen Keith get this flustered before and it actually made stepping forward easier. “I got this for you,” he said, holding up the bruise cream. “Actually, it’s Allura’s, but she said you could use some of it for...you know.” He made a vague gesture towards his own face.

Keith’s eyes widened. “Oh. Uh, thanks.” He didn’t move to take it, though. He was still staring at Hunk like he couldn’t believe that Hunk was actually standing right in front of him, almost like he was afraid to look away.

Hunk...chose not to analyze that for now. “Oookay, I’m just gonna leave it here, then.” He set the tube down next to Keith and turned to head back to the others.

“Hunk?”

And Hunk, like a sailor helpless to a siren’s call, found himself pivoting around before he was even aware of what he was doing.

He watched as Keith opened his mouth and instantly knew what the other boy was about to say. “I don’t want your apology,” he blurted out. When Keith flinched back like he’d been struck, Hunk hurried to explain, “N-Not yet, I mean.” He took a deep breath before continuing in a softer tone, “You’re my friend and I still care about you, but I’m still mad and I just...need more time.”

He wasn’t sorry about yelling at Keith yesterday, but he could admit that he regretted the way he did it, especially since he had inadvertently dragged the whole team into their mess. But, if he had to be honest, a part of his hesitance had to do with fear, too. Fear that, once Keith apologized, that would be the end of everything between them. As much as he wished he didn’t feel this way anymore, a part of him refused to let go. It clung desperately to the roots in his heart like a haunting.

Keith nodded. “Yeah, that’s fair,” he said quietly. He sounded disappointed, which Hunk had expected, but there was no bitterness, annoyance, or anything else like that in his voice.

“T-Thank you, though,” he added. “Um, you didn’t have to do this, but...I really appreciate it.” Keith stumbled on the words like his tongue wasn’t used to them, but he sounded sincere, at least.

And that went a long way.

When Hunk returned to his spot, Romelle grumbled, “Well, that was boring. I wanted to see Keith get punched again.”

Lance made a show of cracking his knuckles. “You never know, the day’s still young.”

“You seem to have an awful lot of animosity for our Number Four, considering he was the one who rescued you,” Coran noted.

Romelle shrugged. “It’s nothing personal, I just find this whole business vastly entertaining.”

“Good to know,” Hunk sighed. Allura patted his back consolingly.

* * *

 _Space pirates_ , Hunk thought just before getting knocked out by their captors, _of course it was_ space pirates.

* * *

When Hunk woke up and felt the cold kiss of metal around his wrists, dread numbed his body.

Then he opened his eyes, saw the cuffs, and felt a hand reach down his throat and pull all the air out of his lungs.

_No, no, not again._

“—Hunk? I think...wrong with him.” He vaguely registered Allura’s voice but it was so faint and distant, like listening to someone whisper from the other side of a wall.

His heart thudded deafeningly in his chest.

“...Hunk? Can...hear me? It’s...Lance.”

He was cold. He was cold and all he could hear was that Druid’s grating voice echoing around him like a death knell.

_So, the little lion cub can roar._

A flash of red in his peripheral was his only warning before Keith filled his vision. His eyebrows were drawn and he was frowning. “Hunk?” he asked, voice as soft as silk. “Are you okay?”

_There’s my lion cub._

The Keith kneeling in front of him vanished, replaced by another Keith—one of the Druid’s perverted versions of him.

Keith, holding his knife up to Hunk’s throat while kissing him.

Keith, holding his knife up to his own throat and shaking his head in disappointment because _they had been too late to save him at Naxzela_. _Hunk_ had been too late.

Keith, smiling down at him with teeth that were far too sharp to be human as Hunk quietly doomed the Coalition.

_Don’t you love me? Don’t you want to make me happy?_

Hunk squeezed his eyes shut against the wetness welling up in them.

The darkness behind his eyelids began to grow hazy.

“—’s not breathing! ...need...something!”

Multiple voices filled his ears but their words slipped away like water through his fingertips.

There was an avalanche in his head and it was burying him alive.

But then, after what felt like hours, one voice pierced through the rockfall. “—name is Hunk Garrett. You’re a Paladin of Voltron and pilot of the Yellow Lion. Your name is Hunk Garrett. You’re a Paladin of Voltron and the pilot of the Yellow Lion.”

Hunk blinked and raised his head out from behind his cuffed arms. Instead of Keith, Shiro was the one kneeling in front of him now, gun metal grey eyes full of concern. “Shiro?”

Shiro gave him a small smile. “Yeah, buddy, it’s me.”

Hunk looked over his shoulder to find everyone standing in a semi-circle behind Shiro, all of them staring at him worriedly. “What happened?” he gulped.

Shiro’s voice was carefully even when he replied, “You had a flashback.” He sighed and looked down at Hunk’s cuffed wrists. “And I think I can guess what the trigger was.”

Hunk looked away. “I’m sorry,” he whispered.

“Oh, Hunk,” said Lance, coming over to kneel next to Shiro. He gently placed his hands on top of Hunk’s. “You don’t have to apologize for anything.”

That didn’t stop him from feeling humiliated, though. He hasn’t had a flashback like this in months. Hell, he didn’t even feel the tickle of one when Lotor’s nanny was smacking him around during the Omega Shield debacle.

He thought he was better. He _should_ be better. “But I—”

“No,” Keith interrupted, using his ‘my way or the highway’ tone, which was reminiscent of his early days as Black’s pilot. He was staring solemnly at Hunk. “You’ve been through a lot—we all have—and I’d be a lot more worried if you didn’t have any kind of reaction.”

His eyes held galaxies and galaxies. Hunk swallowed—he wasn’t used to being the focus of Keith’s attention like this anymore, and it was both exhilarating and frightening.

“It’s what makes you human. It means you’re still alive and here—and you can keep going.”

There was something faintly desperate in his words, like he _needed_ Hunk to know this, to believe him as much as Keith believed in what he was saying.

And, curse his stupid, stupid heart, Hunk found himself believing it, too. “Okay. Yeah,” he said.

He let Lance help him stand up but didn’t break eye contact with Keith the whole time. There was just something about his gaze that he couldn’t look away from.

(Then again, Keith always had that effect on him.)

He finally had to look away when the door gave a warning beep, just before sliding open to reveal two familiar faces.

“Well, well, well,” said the lean pink alien—Ezor, Hunk thought. “Look who’s here, it’s _Voltron_.”

* * *

Hunk still wasn’t a hundred percent sure how they managed to escape Ezor and Zethrid’s fleet, but he wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth, even if said gift horse turned out to be another one of Lotor’s old generals.

“Wow, a lot of things have really changed over the past few weeks,” Lance noted.

“Weeks?” Acxa asked. “What are you talking about?”

 _What was_ she _talking about?_

Allura frowned at her. “The last time we saw you, you were fighting us alongside Lotor.”

Acxa bit her lip. “That was three decaphoebs ago. No one has seen you since your fight with Lotor.”

_What?_

As Acxa told her story, all Hunk could hear was white noise. 

_Three years_. There was no way _three fucking years_ could've passed by without their knowledge. Surely Pidge or even Coran would've figured it out earlier?

But, as Acxa continued telling her story, it started making a horrible kind of sense—why their star charts seemed so out of date, why Pidge hadn't been able to get in touch with Sam and Matt, and why the Blade base they found had been abandoned.

After Acxa finished speaking, Hunk excused himself from the group, waving away the concerned look Lance shot him. He wandered away from the cave for a few minutes before stopping and simply letting himself breathe.

 _Three years_. Hell, they had been in space for almost a whole year by the time they sent Sam back to Earth.

Which meant it would have been four years since Hunk’s family had last seen him. Fuck, that meant the twins would be starting middle school soon. And that—just thinking about that made him feel like his chest was being split open.

He felt a wet snout gently push into his hand, startling him, before Keith’s voice drifted towards him. “Down, boy.”

Hunk looked down and couldn’t help smiling as the cosmic wolf obeyed, dropping to his belly but still giving Hunk the most adorable—if alien—puppy eyes he had ever seen. He looked up and his heart skipped a beat when he met Keith’s gaze, even in spite of the hurt that still lingered in his chest.

“Sorry,” Keith apologized sheepishly. He was standing a few feet away from Hunk, leaving plenty of space between them, which Hunk appreciated. “He’s—uh, really social.”

“I don’t mind,” said Hunk. He knelt down and started petting the wolf, which he seemed to appreciate if the way his tongue lolled out was any indication. “You know, you should really consider giving this guy a name instead of just calling him ‘the wolf’. It might give him an identity complex, you know?”

Keith hummed. “I’ll think about it.”

Neither of them said anything else for a few moments until Hunk, deciding to bite the bullet, cleared his throat. “So, was there something you wanted?” he asked, still keeping his eyes fixed on the wolf instead of Keith.

He heard Keith shuffle his feet. “I—um, wanted to see if you were okay. You looked kind of upset back there.”

That was definitely one way to put it.

“And you’re not?” Hunk asked, finally raising his head to frown at Keith.

Keith simply blinked. “Well, it’s kind of hard to be shocked by temporal displacement when you’ve already been through it once.”

Hunk couldn’t help chuckling at that. He’d almost forgotten about Keith’s morbid yet strangely endearing sense of humor. “Yeah, it looks like you’re really becoming an expert in it.”

Keith snorted and rested his hands on his hips. “Looks like it.” He smiled wryly at Hunk and for a moment, Hunk could almost forget about their fight.

_I’m supposed to end up with you anyway._

And just like that, reality dropped back down on his shoulders like an anvil and he had to look away.

They were billions and billions of light years away from home, and _three fucking years_ had passed since their fight with Lotor.

And Keith was never going to return Hunk’s feelings.

“Hey.”

Hunk forced himself to look up to find Keith giving him a solemn look. There was a fire in his eyes, but it burned in a way Hunk couldn’t quite decipher. “We’re going to get back to Earth soon,” said Keith.

Hunk swallowed. “Yeah?” he asked, unable to stop some of his desperation from leaking into his voice.

Keith nodded. “I promise.” There was weight behind his words; he really meant it.

And if there was one thing Hunk knew about Keith, it was that he always kept his word.

* * *

A few days later, Shiro felt _it_ first, like someone had just reached through his chest and was trying to rip his heart out through his ribcage, before the horribly, horribly familiar planet came up on the screen.

He didn’t know this place, but he _knew_ it.

“S-Stop,” he stuttered, all but collapsing against the back of Keith’s chair.

Through Black’s screen, he could see all the Lions coming to a halt and swivelling around to stare at Black.

“What’s wrong, Shiro?” Keith asked, looking ready to bolt out of his seat at any second.

His mother beat him to it, though, and was already gently guiding Shiro to sit on the floor.

“ _Is it…_ ” Allura trailed off, fear evident in her voice.

 _Is it Haggar?_ , was what Shiro knew she wanted to say.

“Not...exactly,” Shiro replied. “It’s just...I know this place.”

“ _How?_ ” Pidge asked sharply. “ _We’ve never even been to this galaxy before._ ”

With Krolia’s help, Shiro managed to lean back against the wall. He felt Black rumble through the metal, soothing him and helping him control his breathing. “The—My other self has, though.”

Dead silence.

“Down there,” said Shiro, gesturing to the planet. “That’s...where the lab is.”

Keith wordlessly steered Black towards the planet and the others quickly followed suit.

The clone’s memories were fractured mirror shards across his mind, but they seemed to grow clearer the closer they got to the planet. As if they were being called back home.

Shiro refused to think too deeply about that.

By the time they landed, he saw the path to the lab in his mind’s eye as clearly as the sun on a cloudless day. As soon as he got out of Black, he started leading the way to a cave in the distance. He didn’t have to look to know that the others were right behind him and he was grateful for that.

No one said anything as they entered the cave or when they got on the elevator. It was still functional but creaked and groaned like something dying.

Or maybe that was all just in Shiro’s head.

He closed his eyes when they reached the lowest level; he already knew what was waiting for him.

He heard Allura let out a choked cry first, which was followed by gasps from everyone else. “Holy shit…” Lance breathed.

Shiro opened his eyes.

All he could see were rows and rows of those pods, stretching out in front of him like gravestones.

The scene was almost identical to his—the clone’s memories, save for one small difference.

There was a thin layer of dust on all the pods and consoles. No one has been here in years.

Shiro walked towards the nearest pod and brushed his hand over the glass. It lit up on contact, illuminating the figure inside.

It was Shiro, but at the same time, it wasn’t.

“A-Are they…” Lance trailed off hoarsely.

“Most of them are dormant,” said Pidge, already typing away on a nearby console. Despite her clinical tone, Shiro detected a tremble in her voice that broke his heart. “But...I think some of them…”

She didn’t have to continue.

Shiro swallowed. “What happened?” he forced himself to ask.

“Judging from these readings, it looks like the lab got hit by a solar flare a while ago. It must have shorted out some of the power. And with no one to fix it in the last three years…”

The clone wearing Shiro’s unmarred face was so still that he almost looked like he was dead.

(He wondered where his doppelgänger's soul was, what happened to him after he gave his body up for Shiro.

Shiro hoped he was alright and that he had found some peace after what Haggar did to him, wherever that may be.)

He jolted when he felt a hand on his shoulder. When he whipped his head around, he realized it was only Lance.

“Sorry,” Lance whispered as he drew his hand back. He gulped. “I just—I wanted to make sure you were okay.”

“Shiro?” Keith prodded from his other side, voice filled with concern. He was a couple inches taller than the last time Shiro had actually seen him face to face. His hair was longer and he stood with a quiet confidence that had not been there before he found Krolia.

Shiro swept his gaze over the rest of the team. They were all gazing at him with so much worry and love in their eyes that he felt something tighten around his heart.

He always suspected he was going to die before he hit thirty. Maybe thirty-five, if he was lucky.

But what he had never prepared for, never even allowed himself to imagine, was actually _living_. And now that he was here, surrounded by his quilted, handmade family, he was both amazed and _terrified_.

“I’m fine,” he said.

“Bullshit,” said Lance and Pidge at the same time. They blinked at each other in surprise and something about that, of all things, soothed Shiro’s fears, at least a little.

“Okay, you might have a point there,” he allowed. “But I _will_ be fine, I promise.”

He turned back to the seemingly endless sea of pods. If he concentrated hard enough, he could pick up a faint humming sound from the machines they were hooked up to.

A part of him wanted to stay, to walk by each and every one of the gravestone-pods, and say—he still wasn’t sure what, but at least _something_. He didn’t know if the clones would be able to hear him, or if they were even technically alive, but the obligation sat heavily on his shoulders all the same.

But that just wasn’t feasible. Sure, if he asked, he knew his friends would give him all the time in the world, but he couldn’t do that to them, not when they had already lost so much time to this war—a war that _he_ had dragged them into.

He could figure out how to deal with the clones later; right now, he needed to get his entire team through the other side of the war, if not in one piece, then at least _alive_.

“Pidge,” he began as he turned to face her. “Can you—Is there a way to...put this place on lockdown? At least for now.”

“Are you sure?” Allura asked. She stepped up to his side and squeezed his forearm. The weight of her hand grounded him.

Shiro nodded. “I am. I...don’t know what I want to do with the clones just yet, or if I should even do _anything_ , but I can’t just leave them unprotected like this.”

Something about the very idea of abandoning them made him want to throw up. Maybe it was because they all shared his face or maybe it was because he could still feel the echoes of his doppelgänger’s final emotions surging through his body like a scream.

The clone, for all that he had been a victim of the witch’s manipulations, _loved_ the team just as much as Shiro himself did.

That meant the other clones had the same capacity for love, too, and he couldn’t bear the thought of letting them rot here.

(But even if they didn’t, they didn’t deserve to be abandoned, thrown away without a second thought, as if they were broken toy soldiers that no longer served their purpose.

Because he— _they_ , all of them, were broken, weren’t they?

But that didn’t mean he couldn’t still put one foot in front of the other. As long as he could still walk, he could fight and protect his loved ones.)

“Give me a few minutes,” said Pidge. “I’ll set up some surveillance while I’m at it, too. If anything even tries to get in or move, I’ll know.”

“Will they be asleep?” Hunk asked quietly. “I-I mean...they won’t be aware, will they?” His words echoed loudly in the stillness of the lab; it was the first time he had spoken since they arrived.

Out of the corner of his eye, Shiro spotted Keith’s brows furrow with worry. Keith took an aborted step forward, stopped, and clenched his fists. It was obvious, at least to Shiro, how badly Keith wanted to go to the other boy right now. But Shiro knew, perhaps the best out of all of them, that there were certain boundaries you couldn’t cross during a fight.

“As far as I can tell, they’re already asleep anyway,” Pidge replied. “And they’ll stay that way for as long as I’ve got the lockdown on.”

Hunk nodded and let out a breath. “Good. That’s...good.”

Once she was done, they all but fled back to the elevator, none of them wanting to stay any longer than necessary.

Shiro caught Hunk falling behind along the way and fell in step with him. “You alright?” he whispered.

Hunk jolted and gave him a wide-eyed look. “Me? Y-Yeah, I’m fine. It’s just...this place…” he trailed off with a shudder but Shiro understood what he meant.

 _After all_ , Shiro thought with a painful twist in his gut, _we’re both survivors of the Druids’ experiments._

“I know,” Shiro replied. He placed his left hand on Hunk’s shoulder and gave him a meaningful look.

Understanding dawned in the younger boy’s eyes—war-weary eyes that Shiro had seen staring back at him in the mirror countless times.

Hunk shook his head. “Sorry, I should be asking how _you_ are. You’re the one who’s had it way worse than me.” He gestured vaguely to the pods around them.

“It’s not a contest,” Shiro told him gently. “Trauma is still trauma.” When Hunk didn’t say anything, he added, “We all care about you, Hunk, and we want to help however we can.”

Hunk took a shuddering breath. “I know, but it feels like that’s all everyone’s been doing lately. I just want to stop being so useless to the team.”

Well, wasn’t _that_ a sentiment Shiro was familiar with?

“You’re not,” said Shiro. “You know that, right?”

A couple heartbeats passed before Hunk finally, reluctantly nodded. “Yeah, but I still can’t stop feeling this way.”

And Shiro knew that there wasn’t much he could do about that. He could recite all the things Hunk had done for the team—raising their morale with his jokes and cooking, taking point on important missions like the Omega Shield and Balmera, and being their voice of reason when they didn’t know they needed one—until he was blue in the face, but he knew from firsthand experience that it would never be enough to drown out the voices of one’s own mind. Not immediately, at least.

But he could provide some much-needed distractions for now, something to quiet those voices to a more manageable volume.

“Do you mind if I ride with you for the next leg of the trip?” Shiro asked. “I know we haven’t really talked in a while, even before our last fight with Zarkon, and I want to change that...if that’s alright with you?”

Hunk blinked at him in surprise before a small smile made its way to his lips. “Yeah, I’d like that.”

They finally joined the others in the elevator. Shiro gave the ~~mausoleum~~ lab one last look just before the doors closed and made a silent promise to return one day.

* * *

A signal.

They had been on their space road trip for nearly a month when they finally got a signal.

Hunk held his breath as Pidge and Krolia worked on isolating it from the weird Bii-Boh-Bi show.

“ _Before the Blades were unified, we would use this crude way of communicating with each other_ ,” Krolia explained once they finally identified it. “ _Not many Blades know this code. It must be a senior member._ ”

“ _Kolivan?_ ” asked Keith, sounding hopeful.

“ _Possibly._ ”

“ _What does it say?_ ” said Shiro.

“ _It’s a distress signal. Whoever is sending it is in trouble._ ” said Krolia.

Hunk heard Pidge typing something over the comms. “ _It looks like it’s coming from this sector_.”

A set of coordinates appeared on Hunk’s screen shortly after and Hunk couldn’t help wincing. Those coordinates were...not anywhere close to the direction they needed to go to get back to Earth.

“ _Do we know anything about that section of space?_ ” asked Shiro.

“ _Not without the Castle of Lions’ research library core. We would be flying in blind_ ,” Coran pointed out.

“ _We must go._ ” Krolia insisted, sounding very much like Keith in that moment that if Hunk had any doubt that they were mother and son, he sure didn’t now.

“That’s a pretty severe detour from Earth,” he pointed out, even though he already suspected he knew how this conversation was going to end.

“ _I know_ ," Keith told him, sounding apologetic. " _But if Kolivan is there, then maybe there will be more Blades. We need all the help we can to reach Earth._ ”

And, well, even Hunk could see why that was a risk worth taking.

A few hours later, Pidge piped up, “ _The signal is coming from this planet. I’m detecting remnants of a civilization but I don’t see any signs of life._ ”

“ _Is that a good or bad sign?_ ” Romelle asked warily.

Hunk snorted. “In all my space experience, there have never been any good—”

A spark flickered deep in his core—something he hadn’t felt in _months_. It was faint but he _knew_ this feeling.

He gasped and his hand instinctively fell to his hip.

“ _What is it, Hunk?_ ” Lance asked at the same time Keith frantically called out, “ _Is everything okay?_ ”

Hunk swallowed. “My bayard…it’s _here_.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Are you ready?


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I am Macidus, this is my home planet. But now, I am the only one left alive here.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been looking forward to this chapter for a while, so I hope y'all enjoy this as much as I did writing it!!
> 
> Once again, a million thanks to [carriecmoney](https://archiveofourown.org/users/carriecmoney) for helping me edit this chapter! And thank you for all your comments and kudos! I really do enjoy reading them!

“How the hell did Hunk’s bayard end up all the way out here?” Lance asked when they landed.

“Good question,” Hunk muttered as he swept his eyes over the ruins surrounding them. The spark in his core was warmer now, which helped confirm that his bayard was definitely somewhere on this planet.

“I doubt it’s a coincidence there is a Blade signal here as well,” Krolia noted, giving Hunk a meaningful look. “One of the Blades must have found your bayard.”

It made sense; the last time Hunk had seen it was when—

_We have something that is of much greater value._

Hunk shuddered and shook his head. What happened with the Druid—that was years ago.

“I still can’t tell exactly where the signal originates,” Pidge huffed. “I’ll keep trying to triangulate its location.”

Everyone turned to Hunk next. “Hunk?” Allura prompted. “Can you still sense your bayard?”

Hunk nodded and pointed at a hill in the distance, where he felt the pull in his core the strongest. “It’s coming from somewhere over there. I don’t know how far it actually is, though.”

“We might as well start there,” Shiro suggested. “See if we can find whoever’s sending the signal along the way.”

“Stay close,” Keith ordered, knife already drawn and in its sword form. The rest of the team also had their weapons out; even Shiro was holding the black bayard in a tight grip. “Something’s not right about this place.”

They encountered nothing but destruction as they slowly made their way towards the hill. Hunk didn’t know which prospect was worse: that the planet had been like this even before the Galra Empire descended into anarchy—which meant that _something_ had kept the Galra from colonizing it—or there had been a big enough catalyst that managed to wipe out the planet’s entire civilization within the last three years.

Hunk glanced at Allura, who had paused to examine a partially demolished wall with a thoughtful frown on her face. He hoped that, regardless of whatever was going through her mind right now, she would remember that she wasn’t alone.

“The signs are all around us—there was a massacre here,” Krolia concluded.

Allura nodded. “Some of this damage looks like it’s from magic.”

 _Magic?_ Hunk shivered at the implications of her words. He only faintly registered Shiro telling all of them to stay alert.

Lance gently bumped their shoulders together. “It’s gonna be okay,” he whispered.

Hunk nodded and pasted a small smile on his face, even though his body was still wound up tightly like a spring.

About half an hour later, Krolia spoke up again, “These strike patterns look Marmoran.”

“Keep looking,” said Keith. “We need to find whatever Blade is broadcasting that signal.”

Hunk jumped when he heard Kosmo let out a low growl. The wolf had flattened his ears against his head and was baring his fangs at something behind a fallen pillar.

“What is it?” Keith asked.

Kosmo shot off like a bullet. He bounded up the pillar and soon disappeared from view as he jumped down the other side. A heavy thud and grunt, one that _did not_ sound like Kosmo, followed.

When they finally caught up to Kosmo, the wolf was growling at a cloaked figure trapped beneath his feet. The figure didn’t appear to be Galran, but that fact did nothing to lessen Hunk’s uneasiness.

Keith and Lance took point, aiming their respective weapons at the figure’s head. “Good job,” Keith praised the wolf before turning to the figure with a hardened gaze. “Who are you? Who’s broadcasting the signal?”

“It was me!” the figure cried. His voice came out somewhat muffled but there was a familiar cadence to it that made the hairs on Hunk’s arms and the back of his neck stand up.

Before he could analyze that any further, Keith continued, “That’s impossible. You’re no Blade of Marmora.”

“I-I will explain all if you would put down your weapons,” the figure pleaded.

They all exchanged skeptical glances. After what happened at the abandoned Blade base, none of them wanted to take any more chances.

Eventually, Krolia stepped forward. “Let’s see what he has to say.”

* * *

“This is where the signal is coming from, somewhere below us,” Pidge announced once they arrived at the figure’s hideout, which turned out to be a cave located just a few clicks from the hill Hunk had been leading them to.

He wrinkled his nose at the heavy odour that pervaded the cave; like rotten meat. Next to him, Romelle was also making a disgusted face.

“What about your bayard?” Allura whispered, keeping a suspicious eye on the figure.

“It’s close, but I can’t tell where it is.” The spark had transformed into a rumble that was thrumming incessantly beneath Hunk’s skin now. His hand twitched over his thigh where he usually kept his bayard, as if expecting it to materialize there at any second.

“You are clever,” the figure told Pidge. “But I wouldn’t expect less from the Paladins of Voltron.”

Lance raised an eyebrow. “You recognize us?”

“Of course, of course,” the figure replied, sounding almost delighted. “Though I am surprised to see you. All was certain you perished.”

Lance winced. “Yeah, we just found that out, but we’re back.”

“And I am _so_ grateful that you are. It’s been so long since I’ve had guests.”

_Guests._

The word crawled down Hunk’s skin with spider legs.

_You’re now a guest on my ship, little lion cub._

Hunk stumbled back, bumping into a far corner of the cave. He gritted his teeth and shoved the memories down—hard. _Keep it together_ , he scolded himself. He glanced at the rest of the group but thankfully no one seemed to have noticed his quiet freak out.

Well, except for Keith, who shot him a concerned look from the other side of the cave and mouthed, _Are you okay?_

Hunk swallowed but gave him a jerky nod. Keith didn’t seem entirely convinced but tipped his head up a little anyway.

By now, the figure was answering Shiro’s questions about the ruins. “Bloodshed happened here; death happened here,” he explained. “I am Macidus, this is my home planet. But now, I am the only one left alive here.”

Krolia interrupted him with a gasp that pierced the air like a gunshot. When Hunk, along with everyone else, turned towards her, he found her staring into a sort of side room that was partially separated from the rest of the cave by a ragged curtain.

Hunk squinted through the opening. It was too dark to see clearly from his vantage point, but it looked like the wall was mounted with—

_Blades. Dozens of them._

Krolia pivoted around within seconds, gun drawn and aiming straight at Macidus’s head. “What are you doing with these?” she demanded.

“I hang them in honour of their sacrifice,” Macidus told her calmly. “They died trying to protect the universe.”

There was a pregnant pause as they all processed his answer. “How did it happen?” Krolia eventually asked, voice hoarse.

“This all started when Voltron disappeared, when—when _you_ disappeared,” began Macidus. “The power vacuum that ensued destabilized much of the universe. Galra turned on each other. Warlords and pirates became the rulers of the land.”

“What happened with Haggar, the witch?” asked Allura.

“No one knows, but her Druids continued her work, carrying out her final orders. They set out to destroy every Blade.”

Hunk flinched at the mention of the Druids. _So they’re still out there_ , he thought darkly.

“All Blades were called away from their assignments and sent to this base. Kolivan knew they were being hunted and he wanted to make a stand against them.”

 _That was the catalyst_ , Hunk realized. He glanced at the ruins that seemed to sprawl endlessly from the mouth of the cave. It was hard to believe that a handful of Druids could cause this much damage, but at the same time, it was the only explanation that made sense.

“...in the final battle, I was buried beneath a collapsed structure,” continued Macidus. “When I regained consciousness, the fight was over and I was the lone survivor. I’ve been sending the signal Kolivan gave me ever since in the hopes of finding any remaining Blades.”

“There are still a few of us alive,” Keith told him.

Macidus didn’t respond for a moment, but when he finally did, it was with a low grunt, “Good.”

“I recognize every one of these Blades,” said Krolia after a while, staring mournfully at the rows and rows of blades on the wall. “I trained many of them myself. If I had only been here…” She pulled one out. “Kolivan…”

Hunk bit his lip. Out of all the allies they met so far, Kolivan was the only one who Hunk had been convinced would live through the war. The Galran wasn’t just physically big, his very presence was a dominating aura that seemed to ensure his survival. At least, that was what Hunk thought.

Kolivan’s blade emitted a faint purple glimmer but the light disappeared just as quickly as it came before Hunk could fully register it.

 _What?_ Either he finally lost his mind and was hallucinating or...

“Kolivan?” Krolia gasped. “His blade—it’s...flickering.”

“Flickering? What does that mean?” Pidge asked.

“A Marmoran agent’s life force is connected to their blade,” Krolia explained. “I just saw it glow—he must still be alive!”

“ _Just barely,_ ” said Macidus, but his voice was clearer, deeper—more predatory.

They all whipped their heads back to him. He stood up in one fluid motion and swivelled his head towards Hunk.

Hunk felt pinned under his gaze, a butterfly in a display case.

“Hello, my lion cub, I was hoping to see you again some day,” Macidus purred.

Hunk couldn’t breathe. The cave and its rotten smell melted away into the cold, sterile darkness of the Druid’s lab. His friends vanished from view and only Macidus remained.

Except Macidus was now wearing that horrible Druid mask and watching him through those eerie yellow slits.

The Druid chuckled, “So you _do_ remember me. I’m glad.”

_No…_

“Hunk!” Keith’s voice cried, jolting Hunk back to the present.

When Hunk blinked, Keith and Pidge were standing between him and the Druid with their weapons raised.

“You’ve been using that signal to draw Blades in!” Pidge snarled, venom lacing her voice.

Hunk couldn’t see Keith’s face but he didn’t miss the way his sword was shaking minutely in his grip. Either he was scared or—

Or he was _livid_.

Macidus laughed, the sound ringing out like a hundred knives being sharpened at once. Even with the others now closing in around Hunk like a barrier, he was still paralyzed where he stood.

“Kolivan proved to be useful after all,” said Macidus.

His body shimmered briefly before disappearing from view, and Hunk’s world was soon engulfed in a cold, blinding purple light.

* * *

When Keith opened his eyes, he and Kosmo were in a tunnel of some sort.

Macidus’s words echoed deafeningly in his ears, _Hello, my lion cub, I was hoping to see you again some day._

Keith could never forget the Druid’s chilling words to him and Pidge when they rescued Hunk all those years ago. _My, my, looks like we have visitors, little cub._

The Druid was _alive_.

The Druid was alive and he was _here_.

 _Hunk_. Realization sank heavily into the pit of Keith’s stomach. He needed to get Hunk out of here first, then—

Kosmo growled just as Keith caught a flash of purple around the corner of the tunnel, signaling Macidus’s arrival. “Fuck,” he hissed. He squeezed Kosmo by his scruff and directed him to the first hiding spot he could find—a small gap beneath a nearby bridge. It was a tight fit, but they managed to squeeze themselves under it just as Macidus’s footsteps rounded the corner.

His strides were slow and heavy, echoing like a funeral dirge.

“Oh, _Keith_ ,” Macidus crooned as if to a child.

Kosmo was too well-trained to let out a whine in a situation like this but Keith could feel the wolf shiver under his hand at Macidus’s voice. _How does he know my name_ , he thought, dread running through him like a livewire.

“Would you like to know how many times the cub cried for you?”

Keith stopped breathing.

“It’s a shame I didn’t think to record him,” Macidus continued in a lofty tone. The wooden planks above Keith’s head began to creak and groan in time with his steps. “He cried _so_ prettily, too, wondering where you were, if the boy he loved was ever going to rescue him.”

Keith didn’t realize he had been biting his tongue hard enough to draw blood until he tasted copper.

“And I suppose you did save him in the end...or what was left of him, anyway.” Macidus let out a deep chuckle that ran down Keith’s spine like a corpse’s finger.

But it was nothing compared to the rage burning in his veins right now. This Druid was talking about Hunk as if he had been his _pet_ , boasting about torturing him like it was some kind of achievement.

 _I’m going to kill him_. Keith tightened his grip on his sword. He knew what hate was, had felt it possess his hands, heart, and mouth countless times in the past, but this was the first time he truly wanted to inflict this black, ugly thing on another living being. To rip someone’s heart out of their chest, watch them bleed out on the ground, and not feel any regret.

As if he could sense Keith’s distress, Kosmo pressed his soft snout against his hand, grounding him.

The screech of Macidus’s sword being dragged along the cave walls grew louder. If Keith closed his eyes and concentrated, maybe he could…

The Druid’s sword missed him by half an inch as it tore through the bridge.

Keith didn’t have time to think of much else as Kosmo teleported them deeper into the tunnel, tearing down the first path they saw as soon as their feet hit the ground. Running blindly like this while in enemy territory was risky, but the only thing that mattered right now was doing everything he could to protect his team—to protect _Hunk_.

A few seconds later, Macidus teleported in front of them and let out a shrill laugh. “He would do _anything_ for you!”

_Hunk only gave himself up because he loves you!_

“ _Shut up!_ ” Keith screamed, swinging his sword wildly. He _knew_ that Macidus was only saying these things to get a rise out of him, but all he could remember at that moment was how pale and still Hunk had looked when he and Pidge finally found him.

And this _monster_ was the one responsible for that.

“But you already know that, don’t you?” Macidus continued as if he hadn’t been interrupted.

_How about I make you a deal? You for him._

Each word was a sharp stab to Keith’s chest, cutting straight into his heart.

“I should thank you, really. You were a _wonderful_ inspiration to my work,” Macidus sneered.

 _What?_ Keith froze.

The delay was just long enough to give Macidus the opening he needed to swipe at Keith’s head. Keith tried to dodge out of the way, but the hilt of Macidus’s sword caught on his helmet. The force of his swing sent it flying off his head and upset his balance enough to send him crashing to the ground.

He could only watch, helpless, as Macidus swung his sword down on him.

Blue light flashed in his periphery just before Kosmo appeared on the Druid’s back, startling him and giving Keith just enough time to roll out of the way. Macidus cursed and teleported away, but not before Kosmo managed to rip his mask off.

When Macidus reappeared a few feet away, his gnarled, withered face was twisted into a hideous scowl. “There is no escape but death,” he rasped.

He leapt at Keith but Kosmo was faster, teleporting them just as Macidus’s sword clanged against Keith’s.

* * *

When Hunk came to, he was kneeling on the ground on all fours and panting heavily. He faintly registered Allura yelling something at Pidge, but only one thought penetrated the fog in his head:

_The Druid was alive and he’d found him._

“Hunk?”

_Hello, my lion cub, I was hoping to see you again some day._

A pair of hands grasped his shoulders and gave him a rough shake, punching a gasp out of him. When he looked up, Lance, Shiro, and Coran were kneeling in front of him.

”Hey,” said Shiro gently. In his hand, the black bayard had taken the shape of a spear. “Keith’s in trouble and we gotta help him. Do you think you can stand?”

 _No_ , a part of Hunk wanted to scream, but the rest of him knew that wasn’t an option. Keith was in _danger_ and the idea of leaving him— _any_ of them—alone with the Druid for a second longer made Hunk’s heart drop to the pit of his stomach.

He nodded and, with Lance and Coran’s help, managed to stand up.

“He’s directly below us!” Pidge shouted.

Hunk spotted Allura a few feet away, her entire body glowing with energy. “Stand back!” she ordered.

Then, with a cry, she threw her fist to the ground.

It splintered beneath her touch.

* * *

Keith didn’t know where Kosmo had zapped them to this time, but they were clearly in a deeper part of the cave. It was darker and colder; water dripped steadily from the ceiling.

A broken moan came from behind him; he turned towards it.

It was Kolivan—strung up in the air like a puppet. And lying directly beneath him was Hunk’s bayard.

Keith sucked in a shaky breath. “Kolivan! I’ll get you out of here!”

He was only able to take one step before Macidus teleported between him and Kolivan. “Our high priestess, Haggar, has forsaken us because of _your_ treachery,” he spat. “But after I kill you and the other Paladins, Haggar will allow me to return!” With that, he lunged at Keith with a roar.

The next few moments blurred into a whirlwind of magic and metal. Keith could barely keep track of Macidus as they fought. No matter what he and Kosmo did, the Druid was too fast for them.

But Keith didn’t dare drop his guard, because there was more at stake than just his life now. He could hear Black, Red, and even the rest of the Lions roaring in the back of his mind, _KillhimkillhimKILLHIM!_ Yellow’s cries were the loudest and most desperate.

Macidus _hurt_ Hunk, and Keith would go through hell before letting him walk out of here alive.

Something like an earthquake shook above their heads before part of the ceiling collapsed. For the first time in what felt like hours, Keith let himself breathe a sigh of relief when he saw the rest of the team jumping down the hole.

“ _How?_ ” Macidus panted.

Allura pointed her bayard at him. “You’re not the only one who can do magic,” she growled.

Macidus didn’t respond for a few seconds, then he smiled and the sight of it was colder than winter. “No matter, I’m going to enjoy making Kolivan witness your end.” He turned to Hunk and his smile widened into a horrifying, maniacal thing. “But don’t worry, I’ll be sure the cub dies last, make him watch as I—”

“ _Stay away from him!_ ” Lance screamed, opening fire.

Macidus teleported out of the way with another bone-chilling laugh. “Or better yet, I’ll make him watch the half-breed here commit the deed. After all, it wouldn’t be the first time.”

Red—fiery and bloody as a sunset—bled into Keith’s vision. Yet, despite the firestorm raging inside of him, one thought pierced Keith’s mind, _What the hell is he talking about?_

As if able to hear his thoughts, Macidus chuckled, “It’s _amazing_ what you can do with a little illusionary magic.”

“ _Please, no…_ ” Hunk choked out, and the sound cleaved Keith’s heart in two.

But before he could react, Macidus’s face began to shift, becoming paler and more angular. The air around them grew heavy and electric, provoking some primal thing deep within Keith’s core to gnash its fangs in restless terror, but Keith couldn’t stop looking at the grotesque sight in front of him. Kosmo let out a whine and crouched down next to him with his hackles raised.

Then Macidus’s transformation came to an end and Keith wanted to throw up. Gasps echoed all around him.

Because it wasn’t Macidus who was staring back at them now—it was Keith’s own face.

Macidus cocked his head at Hunk and his lips curled into a cruel smirk that looked completely foreign on Keith’s features. “ _Don’t you love me, Hunk? Don’t you want to make me happy?_ ” he taunted in Keith’s own voice.

A fractured sob fell from Hunk’s lips.

And then Keith understood—why Hunk couldn’t seem to stand the sight of him when they rescued him, why he pulled away when Keith tried to hug him on the Castle of Lions all those years ago, and why, during his flashback on Ezor and Zethrid’s ship, he seemed so _terrified_ of Keith.

Macidus not only—somehow—found out about Hunk’s feelings, but also threw them right back in his face. And he used _Keith_ to do it.

Hatred scorched Keith’s heart—both his and that of the team through the Lion bond, until he couldn’t tell where he ended and where the others began. But it didn’t matter, because they all wanted the same thing.

Pidge was the first to attack. “ _You’re dead, you son of a bitch!_ ” she roared. She raised her bayard and shot the grapple straight at Macidus’s head.

But Macidus easily skirted out of her way. His face reverted back to normal, but it was now contorted with ugly glee. He teleported to Allura’s side and swung his sword at her, but was forced to jump back when Lance fired a series of shots at him, narrowly missing him.

“The next one is going in your head,” Lance snarled.

Keith charged forward, heedless of Shiro and Krolia’s warning shouts. Sparks flew as his sword met Macidus’s and he pushed until their faces were only inches away from each other. “ _I’ll kill you_ ,” Keith swore. His body _burned_ with bloodlust and rage. Whatever happened after this didn’t matter as long as Macidus was dead and his corpse was buried in a pit that nobody would ever find—not in the next ten thousand years or _ever_.

Macidus’s smirk stretched across his leathered face, almost into a Glasgow smile. “There we are!” he crowed. “I was wondering if I would ever see those Galra eyes, or if your heritage had become too tainted.”

Keith didn’t know what he was talking about, but he didn’t care as he continued trying to drive Macidus backwards.

“Keith, watch out—”

But Romelle’s warning had come too late. Keith felt hot ice scald his skin only half a heartbeat before registering the crackling ball of energy that Macidus had shot at his cheek. The next thing he knew, the force of Macidus’s magic was pitching him into the opposite wall.

He was faintly aware of his friends’ alarmed cries and Kosmo’s panicked whines as he crumbled to the ground with a groan, but the only thing he could focus on was the blistering pain in his right cheek. He was on fire, he had to be—nothing else could possibly explain this unearthly agony he was experiencing.

As he felt Krolia’s hands pull him up to his feet, he heard Macidus let out another hoarse laugh. “Oh dear, that looks like it might scar! Do you think the cub will still love you after this—”

Macidus was cut off by the sound of flesh being pierced, which was followed by a grunt. When Keith finally managed to look up, it was to the blurry but still discernible sight of the Druid lurching backwards with Shiro’s spear protruding from his shoulder.

Shiro stepped forward and raised his hand. The spear glowed bright blue for a second before disappearing and reappearing in his hand. Blood, black as char, dripped from it. “Next time, I won’t miss,” said Shiro coldly. Keith had never heard him sound so ruthless and dangerous before—not since the clone.

Macidus spat on the ground, glancing at Hunk before turning back to Keith. His cruel, weathered face warped into a glare that was sharper than a blade, promising suffering and death. “Vrepit Sa!” he cried out before surging forward, his sword raised in his uninjured hand and, Keith knew, pointed directly at his heart.

Krolia scrambled to land a shot but Macidus was teleporting too quickly, even for her. Keith struggled to fall back into a defensive stance but the fire in his cheek still _burned_. Despite the sharp sting, his gaze slid stubbornly over to Hunk, who was staring back at him with tears streaming freely down his cheeks.

 _Get up, get up, get_ up _!_ , Keith’s brain screamed, even as he felt his body beginning to list helplessly against the wall. He couldn’t die—not here, not like this. He couldn’t let Macidus win, but, more importantly, he couldn’t do that to Hunk, not after everything.

And then, just as Macidus slid past Krolia’s side, a bright blue light tore through the Druid’s head, exploding in a firework of blood and bones.

Time froze as his body seized up before collapsing like a puppet with its strings cut. But before the body even hit the ground, it disintegrated like ash, leaving behind only a spatter of dark blood on the ground.

A few feet away, Lance lowered his gun. His jaw was clenched and his lips were pursed in a thin line.

A storm of rage, relief, and sorrow swirled in the Lion bond, but Keith didn’t detect a single hint of remorse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (So, in case you couldn’t tell, I kind of adore the cliche ‘villain taunts characters about their loved ones’ trope a lot. Frankly, I blame Sailor Moon)
> 
> Shoutout and thanks again to [Chronolith](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chronolith) for giving me the suggestion of giving Lance the headshot at the end, otherwise this chapter would have ended very differently, and I'm not sure I would've been satisfied with my original idea.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this! Comments and kudos are appreciated!


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Macidus used magic on me,” Hunk began, dropping his eyes to the ground. “He—uh, saw into my head and used my...my memories to interrogate me.”
> 
> Coran gulped, “You told us that he made you see things.”
> 
> Hunk nodded. “Yeah, he made me...relive certain memories sometimes.” He hugged his knees to his chest. “And other times, he kind of...blended them with things that never happened, kind of like a dream—made me think they were real.” 
> 
> “What did you see?” Shiro asked, almost fearfully.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [rises out of the smoke of finals hell, all Mushu-style] I live!
> 
> Not much to say about this chapter, other than it's going to be a bit slow, given that it's the aftermath of the last one. There were a couple scenes I had to cut once I hit 4k, otherwise, this chapter would have gone on forever. But the good news is I'm no longer panicked about what to write for the next one!
> 
> Once again, thanks for all your comments and kudos. I hope you enjoy!

By unspoken agreement, they relocated as far away from Macidus’s cave as possible without exacerbating Keith and Kolivan’s injuries any further. They eventually found shelter near the Lions and made camp. If Hunk had it his way, they’d be a million light years away from this planet by now, but even he wasn’t stubborn enough to deny that none of them was in the condition to fly, least of all himself.

That was another thing; if Lance had been attached to his side after what happened on Zethrid and Ezor’s ship, then he was firmly glued to him like moss now—him, Pidge, Allura, Shiro, and Coran.

As much as Hunk was touched by how much they obviously cared, it only served to remind him of just how _weak_ he was. It’s been months—technically _years_ since his rescue, he was supposed to be _better_.

_Hello, my lion cub…_

And yet, what did he do after being confronted by the Druid again? _He froze_. He just stood by and did _nothing_ while his friends fought for him.

Hell, Keith nearly _died_ in front of him and all he had been able to do was watch.

Hunk peered through his fringe at Keith, who was sitting across from him on the other side of the small fire they had started earlier. Krolia was currently tending to him, rubbing one of Coran’s Altean salves over his wound. Next to them, Coran and Romelle were treating Kolivan. Based on Pidge’s scan, he seemed to have been vastly weakened by his time as Macidus’s prisoner, but he was stable, at least.

Hunk flinched as the fire flared up for a moment, illuminating Keith’s angry red burn in all its terrible glory. It wasn’t like any kind of burn Hunk had ever seen before and was almost certainly going to leave a scar, just as Macidus promised.

It crawled up the side of Keith’s face, going from the underside of his jaw and narrowly missing his eye, nearly covering half his face in a spiderweb pattern.

Keith was frowning at the fire, but his gaze was somewhere much farther away.

For the first time in—probably ever, Hunk was afraid to know what the other boy was thinking.

_Do you think the cub will still love you after this?_

Hunk pulled his legs closer to his chest and rested his chin on his knees.

Krolia finished treating Keith’s burn and gently taped gauze over it. “Let me know the instant you feel any pain, alright?” she said, finally breaking the somber silence that had been hanging over them since they left the cave.

Keith nodded absentmindedly and that, somehow, was what pushed Hunk to blurt out, “I’m sorry.”

Fuck, he felt as if all he had done lately was apologize.

Keith whipped his head up at him, eyes wide and jaw dropping open, but it was Shiro who patiently replied, “It’s not your fault, Hunk.”

“But the Druid—”

“Is dead now and that’s all that matters,” Lance hissed. More softly, he added, “If you really think that you’re somehow responsible, then it’s our fault, too, for not making sure that bastard was really dead the first time.”

Pidge bit her lip. “We should have known better.”

“If he had your bayard this entire time, then we would have eventually stumbled upon him anyway,” Allura told him, sounding so reasonable that Hunk found himself believing her in spite of himself.

“And I should’ve been more careful,” said Keith. He was staring into the fire again, fists clenched tightly over his knees. “If I hadn’t been caught by that bounty hunter in the first place…” Krolia squeezed his shoulder.

Hunk swallowed. “We already talked about this,” he said quietly. “It would’ve been one of us no matter what.”

Keith’s eyes narrowed into a glare, but he tellingly didn’t refute him. Hunk briefly wondered what they would have seen and heard if Keith had been the one who ended up in the Druid’s clutches.

(Would Macidus’s face have transformed into Shiro’s?)

No one said anything for a long time, but Hunk could hear the unspoken question in the air, an axe swinging delicately above their heads.

It was Romelle who snapped the rope. “Um, what exactly happened?” She jumped when Lance and Allura immediately hushed her, and mumbled an apology as she drew her shoulders up to her ears. Keith even let out a growl that sounded more Galra than human.

Hunk couldn’t blame Romelle for asking, though. It was a fair question and he’d been expecting it ever since they left Macidus’s cave.

And, in a way, now that the Druid had opened the door to those dark few days, it was easier for Hunk to step through it himself. Truthfully, he was tired of keeping his memories buried and letting them fester slowly within him until they consumed him completely, leaving nothing behind.

“Macidus used magic on me,” Hunk began, dropping his eyes to the ground. He felt Lance and Allura tense up on either side of him as everyone fell silent. The fire crackled deafeningly in his ears. “He—uh, saw into my head and used my...my memories to interrogate me.”

Coran gulped, “You told us that he made you see things.”

Hunk nodded. “Yeah, he made me...relive certain memories sometimes.” He hugged his knees to his chest. “And other times, he kind of...blended them with things that never happened, kind of like a dream—made me think they were real.” He chewed on his bottom lip. “It’s still kind of hard sometimes...to tell the difference between what’s real and what isn’t.”

“What did you see?” Shiro asked, almost fearfully. His and the rest of the team’s gaze weighed heavily on Hunk.

Keeping his head down, Hunk inhaled again before finally answering, “Keith, mostly.” He heard Keith suck in his breath through his teeth but didn’t dare look at him. “M-Macidus would mainly make him—um, his Keith—say things.”

Thankfully, no one pushed him to elaborate, but he supposed they now had a pretty good idea of just _what_ kinds of things he would have heard.

_Don’t you love me? Don’t you want to make me happy?_

Hunk swallowed. He could stop here, let his team connect the dots themselves—it wasn’t like they didn’t already _know_ that he had been drugged and tortured. The only difference between now and before Pidge picked up that damn signal was they now knew that Keith had been involved.

But now that Hunk had taken the first step through the door, he felt like he couldn’t stop. His memories churned in his stomach like acid, burning him from the inside.

So, after taking another deep breath, he began to haltingly describe some of the ‘dreams’ that Macidus put him through, starting with the way the Druid twisted the memory of the first time he actually spoke to Keith in the Garrison library into a nightmare.

“...and then he made the...the Keith in that dream hurt me…” Hunk shuddered; even though it had been an illusion, he could still recall the memory of being ‘stabbed’ with horrifying clarity. He heard Keith let out a hiss. “Then I woke up and Macidus...started it all over again, but with a different dream this time. It-It pretty much went on like that the whole time I was there.”

He tried to keep his tone clinical and the details sparse as he continued talking, but, judging by the occasional choked gasps he heard, his...sanitised version of events seemed to be horrifying enough on its own.

“...and sometimes, he made me watch Keith hurt himself, but he usually just made him talk to me—try to get me to give him Coalition intel.” Hunk glanced up at Kolivan, whose eyes widened in understanding. Hunk laughed bitterly as he turned back to the fire, “And I guess it worked in the end.” He felt Lance tug him closer to his side, followed by Allura rubbing his shoulder and Pidge gently squeezing his knee.

When Hunk got the courage to look up again, he found Coran staring at him with his hand clapped over his mouth in horror. Shiro was glaring at the ground, his prosthetic fist clenched so tightly that Hunk could hear the metal creak a little. Romelle and Krolia were both staring at him with shock and pity in their eyes.

And Keith—his entire body was shaking. His hair obscured his eyes from view but Hunk could see him baring his teeth, revealing canines that were just a little too sharp to be completely human. At his feet, Kosmo was whining softly and nosing futilely at his arm.

“Keith?” Hunk asked hesitantly.

He couldn’t help flinching a little when Keith raised his head; the sclera of his eyes were yellow now and his pupils were narrowed into cat-like slits. Hunk remembered Lance and Pidge mentioning Keith’s ‘Galra eyes’ before but this was the first time he was seeing them for himself. It was...admittedly unnerving.

Then Keith blinked and his eyes went back to normal. Before Hunk knew it, the other boy was shooting to his feet and stomping out of the partially demolished building they were currently hiding in. “Sorry, I just—I need some air,” he murmured hastily.

“Keith, wait—” Shiro called out, but Keith was already out the door. He didn’t spare any of them a backward glance, not even when Kosmo let out a high-pitched, mournful keen.

Guilt ate at Hunk’s heart. “He’s mad, isn’t he?” he asked. _Of course he is_ , he thought, resigned. Keith was probably humiliated that the Druid had ‘used’ him like that, even if it wasn’t really him. He deserved a stronger teammate than Hunk.

“Yes,” said Krolia, making Hunk wince. Yet, when he turned to face her, she gave him a sad smile. “But not at you,” she added. She sounded like she meant it, too.

Allura cleared her throat. “I’ll talk to him. I’m...familiar with the kind of magic Macidus used.”

Hunk watched as she stood up, brushing her hand comfortingly along his shoulder as she went. Lance reached up to squeeze her hand and she returned the gesture with a small smile just before disappearing out the door.

Moments later, as Shiro and Coran made noises about getting some rest, Hunk started shivering. Cold exhaustion seeped through his bones, weighing heavily on his limbs, but the last thing he wanted to do was go to sleep right now, not when he could still hear Macidus’s laughter so clearly in his head. There was no way he was going to get any sleep tonight.

“Hey, what’s up?” Lance whispered. He was warm against Hunk’s side.

Hunk bit his lip. “I...don’t want to be alone right now,” he admitted. Just saying those words grated; he wasn’t a little kid who needed to sleep with a nightlight on anymore, so why was his stupid brain acting like he was?

“Okay,” Lance replied easily, like this was a completely normal reaction. “Sleepover in Yellow, then?” He tilted his head at Pidge, who nodded eagerly.

Hunk’s chest felt lighter. “Yeah, I’d like that.”

* * *

“What did you see?” asked Shiro.

Keith held his breath. If he had to be honest, he didn’t _want_ to know what happened during that awful week Hunk was missing, but at the same time, he _needed_ to know. If nothing else, it was the least Hunk deserved.

“Keith, mostly,” said Hunk quietly, still keeping his head down like he was _ashamed_ when, in fact, it was _Keith_ who should be hiding his face.

He didn’t realize he’d let out a hiss until Krolia laid a hand on his shoulder, both as a warning and soothing weight. It did nothing to temper the white hot anger that was beginning to flare to life within him, though.

He should have stabbed that Druid in the heart when he had the chance.

“M-Macidus would mainly make him—um, his Keith—say things.”

_Would you like to know how many times the cub cried for you?_

Keith dug his nails into his palms. _No, I should’ve cut him open and made him watch as I pulled his still-beating heart out of his fucking chest._

“The first memory he used was...from a few years ago. It was the first time I talked to Keith. Well, for a little bit anyway. We were in the Garrison library and…”

Keith had very faint memories of getting into a pissing contest with a few senior cadets once, but he didn’t realize that _Hunk_ had been the freshman he’d unwittingly helped until the other boy mentioned it. His chest constricted as he realized that the memory clearly meant something to Hunk, if the fact that Macidus had singled it out was any indication.

“...and then he made the...the Keith in that dream hurt me…” Hunk didn’t elaborate.

Bile climbed Keith’s throat at the newfound knowledge that the Druid had taken something so private and _innocent_ , and morphed it into an unrecognizable terror. _How did I hurt you?_ , he wanted to ask, even though he was deathly afraid of the answer.

In the end, he stayed silent, because this was a question he had no right to ask.

“Then I woke up and Macidus...started the process again, but with a different dream this time. It-It pretty much went on like that the whole time I was there,” continued Hunk.

His head was still bowed and Keith wished, more than anything, that he could go to him, wrap his arms around him like the way he used to when they were alone, and whisper, over and over again, that he was safe now. He didn’t care how long it would take as long as Hunk eventually believed him and stopped looking so defeated.

(But Keith had lost his right to do that months ago and the knowledge stung.)

The more Hunk revealed about the Druid, the more the fire in Keith’s heart _burned_.

“...and sometimes, he made me watch Keith hurt himself, but he usually just made him talk to me—try to get me to give him Coalition intel.” Hunk let out an ugly laugh that didn’t belong to his normally soft chocolate-smooth voice at all. “And I guess it worked in the end.”

Keith barely registered Kosmo whining at him as the fire licked along his veins, making him tremble. He should’ve made Macidus beg for his life, beg _Hunk_ for his life—to make the Druid feel as helpless and terrified as he made Hunk feel. Keith should’ve ripped his fucking throat out with his _teeth_.

He wanted to scream, break something, march back into Macidus’s cave and burn everything in it to the ground until there was nothing left—anything to feed the fire.

“Keith?” Hunk asked softly, his voice piercing the roaring blaze in Keith’s head.

When he lifted his head and met Hunk’s gaze, the other boy reeled back slightly. Keith didn’t need anyone to tell him that his eyes had likely ‘gone Galra’ again—the shock in Hunk’s expression told him all he needed to know.

It dampened his anger long enough for him to realize that he could _not_ lose it in front of Hunk. Keith couldn’t even imagine what he must be feeling right now, but he’d be damned if he made things worse.

He pushed himself to his feet and stumbled towards the exit. “Sorry, I just—I need some air,” he mumbled.

He heard Kosmo let out a distressed whine and Shiro call his name, but the wildfire in Keith’s ears was louder. It urged him to keep moving, to do _something_.

He kept walking until he could no longer see their campsite, though he made sure to keep the Lions in sight. Meanwhile, Macidus’s taunts echoed in his head.

 _I should thank you, really. You were a_ wonderful _inspiration to my work._

The familiar clang of his blade hitting stone rang in the air before he realized he’d even drawn his sword. There was a telltale slash on the boulder in front of him.

_Oh dear, that looks like it might scar! Do you think the cub will still love you after this?_

He adjusted his grip on the hilt of his sword and hacked at the boulder again with a shout. And again. And a fourth time.

He quickly lost track of time as he attacked the boulder relentlessly. The fire within him grew with each swing of his sword, consuming him.

Of all the deaths he may have regretted during his time in space, Macidus’s demise was not one of them. The only thing he was sorry about was not being able to make him suffer before Lance shot him.

But, more than that, he hated how _useless_ he was.

It was his fault that Hunk got captured in the first place, his fault for not immediately killing Macidus when they first had the chance all those years ago, and his fault for not realizing that Hunk was lying every time he asked him how he was doing. They all knew by then that _no one_ escaped the Druids unscathed—why didn’t he figure it out earlier, before it had been too late?

Keith let out another frustrated scream, but it did nothing to drown out Macidus’s voice chanting in his head, _Your fault, your fault, your fault!_

How was he going to face Hunk again after this? Hell, how could _Hunk_ even stand to look at him after everything he’s been through?

He raised his sword, preparing to bring it down again—

Something grabbed and held his blade in a solid, steady grip. “That’s enough,” said Allura’s voice at his back.

“Let me go,” Keith snarled. The fire licked up his throat, threatening to burn everything in its path.

“No.” Allura’s voice was as unwavering as the tide.

“ _Allura…_ ”

“You’re going to hurt yourself at this rate, which means you’ll need time to heal, which means we’ll likely have to stay on this bloody planet even longer. Is that what you want?” Allura said crisply.

 _And Hunk will be the one who suffers for it_ , was the tacit warning.

And just like that, the fire suffocated with a whimper.

Allura let go just as Keith’s arms went limp and his sword reverted to its dagger form.

He dropped to the ground as the last dregs of his anger faded away. There was nothing but ash in his lungs now. “It should have been me,” he hissed. He could have endured Macidus’s torture—after all, he had seen and done things during his time with the Blades that he was certain would make even Shiro balk.

But Hunk? He hadn’t deserved any of it.

Keith jumped when Allura’s hand dropped on his shoulder and looked up to find her kaleidoscope eyes on him. “None of you should have ever been at risk,” she told him firmly. “I wish…” she trailed off, brows drawn and the corners of her lips dipping into a frown, as if being pulled by something heavy.

The last time Keith saw that look on her face was years ago, when they both believed they were being tracked by Zarkon and subsequently snuck out of the Castle. It was guilt, he realized.

Allura let go of his shoulder and folded herself down next to him gracefully. “There’s no telling what Macidus would have done if he had captured you instead,” she explained. “Illusions only make up a small part of the Druids’ magic. I’m certain he would have employed a completely different type of magic on you.” She gave Keith a pointed look, as if able to hear his thoughts. Then again, she probably could through the Lion bond.

“Macidus knew that he had the best chance of getting Hunk to talk through you.” Allura was still watching him intently. “That’s all it was.”

Keith swallowed but nodded. Even though he still wished that the mission that led to Hunk’s capture had gone differently, he knew that Allura was right.

“We can’t change what happened,” she continued, “but what we can do is remind Hunk that we’re here for him.”

Keith clenched his fists, unclenched them, and let out a shaky breath. “I don’t know if—if I can do that.” The words cut his tongue as he spoke. “I...I don’t want to hurt Hunk any more than he already is,” he admitted, closing his eyes.

(Could he even fix things between them after this? What if he just made everything worse?)

“You won’t,” Allura insisted with an undercurrent of steel in her tone. When Keith opened his eyes, he caught her staring at the Blue Lion with an unreadable expression on her face. Her eyes darted briefly to Red before meeting Keith’s gaze again. “I refuse to let that—that _monster_ win,” she hissed. “What Hunk needs now is to know that we still love him and nothing will ever change that.”

 _Do you even want me?_ , Hunk had asked at the start of their journey, after Keith opened his stupid, stupid mouth and spoke without thinking.

 _I do!_ , he ached to shout now. _I want you so badly it_ hurts.

Only, he hadn't realized that until it had been too late.

He must have been silent for just a little too long, because Allura's gaze sharpened. “ _Has_ something changed?” she asked shrewdly.

Keith ducked his head. “It doesn’t matter,” he bit out.

“Keith—”

“It’s fine,” Keith cut her off. “Please, just...drop it.” Because Allura was right. Hunk needed their assurances now, more than ever. The last thing he needed was to deal with the mess that was Keith’s feelings on top of everything else.

Keith thought about the last time he saw Hunk smile— _really_ smile, without any shadows lingering on the edges—and felt barbed wire tighten around his throat at the realization that it had been months, _years_.

He knew, then, that he would do anything to bring that smile back.

* * *

When they returned to the campsite, Allura had to blink when she caught sight of Pidge dragging that strange video game console she and Lance bought from the swap moon mall towards the Yellow Lion. Kosmo was trailing behind her with a bundle of cables in his mouth.

As soon as Kosmo spotted Keith, though, he yipped and bounded over to them. Keith bent down to pet the wolf, his eyes softening as he did so. Allura quirked an eyebrow at Pidge “What’s all this?”

“We’re bunking with Hunk tonight—Lance, Shiro, Coran and I—so I figured I’d bring this over in case we needed a distraction or something,” Pidge explained. “You guys should join us.”

Allura smiled, remembering the ‘sleepovers’ they used to have regularly in the Castle; she’d missed them. “That sounds lovely.”

But as she and Keith both took a step forward, she heard the faint but nonetheless recognizable growl of the Yellow Lion reverberate through her mind. _No_ , he seemed to be saying.

And it was directed at Keith.

Allura knew that he’d heard it as well when he froze and looked up at the Yellow Lion’s hulking form above them. The Lion hadn’t moved but Allura had the strangest feeling that it was watching him intently, ready to strike at any moment.

“Actually, I think I better not,” Keith throat bobbed as he took a pointed step back.

Yellow’s growl softened into a muted rumble, but his ire was still palpable across the Lion bond.

Allura frowned, confused. Surely Yellow wasn’t upset with Keith because of the Druid?

Then, she remembered: the fight.

 _Are you seriously suggesting that I’m supposed to be_ happy _that I’m your second choice?_

Pidge seemed to remember it, too, because she winced. “Yellow can really hold a grudge, huh?”

“It’s fine,” said Keith, sounding resigned. “It’s probably better this way.”

Pidge squeezed his arm briefly before continuing towards Yellow. Somehow able to sense what was happening, Kosmo whined at him. “Go on,” Keith encouraged, giving the wolf one last pat on the head. “Hunk needs you more than I do right now.”

Kosmo licked his palm once before following after Pidge. Once they were out of earshot, Allura turned back to Keith. “Are you sure you’ll be alright?” she asked.

Keith huffed out a tired laugh, “Honestly? I don’t know. But _I’m_ not the one I’m worried about.” He glanced up at Yellow and Allura recalled the way he avoided her gaze earlier.

_Has something changed?_

Even before they encountered Macidus, Allura had noticed a shift between him and Hunk. It was subtle and she didn’t even think Hunk had noticed it, but it was there. At this point, she could only guess at exactly _what_ that shift was, but hoped the two of them could resolve it soon.

“Hey,” said Keith abruptly, his voice soft and fragile. “I—um, don’t think I ever said ‘thank you’ for saving Shiro. So, thank you.”

The words were awkward but sincere. Sometimes, Allura forgot just how young he and the other Paladins were.

(But she was young, too, wasn’t she?)

Allura embraced him in a tight hug. Predictably, Keith stiffened in her arms, but soon relaxed enough to hug her back. He was slightly taller than her now. “You don’t need to thank me,” she told him. “I did it for him because he’s my friend.”

She pulled back and clapped her hands on his shoulders, forcing him to meet her gaze. “We’re going to make it—all of us. I promise.”

And it was a promise that she intended to keep no matter what came their way.


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “No way,” Lance uttered. “It’s _Earth._ ”
> 
> What?
> 
> “That wave must have knocked us all the way across the universe!” Pidge cheered.
> 
> “ _We’re home._ ” Lance was already firing his jetpack. The others instantly followed suit before Hunk could even say anything. “We’re gonna make it, guys!”
> 
> The pure excitement and relief in his voice was so palpable that, for several seconds, Hunk wanted to believe him.
> 
> But something in his paranoid gut was screaming that they needed to get as far away from here as possible, that whatever was waiting for them on that planet was wrong. He was intimately familiar with this sensation.
> 
> The last time he felt this...this black sludge of wrongness was when he was still Macidus’s prisoner.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies again for the delay! A lot of things kind of happened at once but I promise we're at the homestretch now!
> 
> Thanks again to carriecmoney for looking over this chapter for me and helping me beat it to a presentable condition!
> 
> And once again, thank you to everyone for reading and commenting! I really appreciate it.

The first time Hunk jolted awake that night with a scream on the tip of his tongue, Shiro was immediately at his side, rubbing his left hand over his arm. “It’s alright, you’re safe now,” he whispered.

Hunk blinked blearily up at him because— _what was_ Shiro _doing here?_ Something shifted over the older man’s shoulder and he squinted at it. ‘It’ turned out to be Pidge and Coran passed out in the corner. Someone snored at his back; he twisted around to find Lance and Allura snuggled together in two commas, with Allura’s arm laying protectively over Lance’s chest, hands laced together over his heart.

Then, Hunk remembered: the signal, his bayard, Macidus.

“Go back to sleep,” Shiro hummed, his voice a soft spring breeze.

Fatigue pulled Hunk’s eyes closed and he laid his head back down on his pillow. Shiro’s hand stayed on his arm.

* * *

The next and final time he woke up with Macidus’s chilling laugh still ringing in his ears, it was to something wet slobbering all over his face. When he opened his eyes, a pair of golden eyes was staring down at him. “Wha—”

The creature in front of him let out a whine, long tongue lolling out, and Hunk couldn’t help smiling. “Hey, Kosmo,” he whispered, reaching out to pet the wolf. “What’re you doing here?”

Kosmo didn’t have an answer for him, curling up at his side and resting his head on Hunk’s chest with a decisive huff instead, as if to say, _Guess what, human? I live here now._

Hunk chuckled and continued petting Kosmo as he closed his eyes. The wolf was a heavy, but soothing weight.

* * *

Going through his morning routine with five other people and one cosmic wolf in Yellow’s cramped quarters was exactly as chaotic as one would expect. Hunk didn’t mind it, though. It reminded him of all the times his baby cousins stayed over when their parents, his Uncle Filo and Aunt Maya, had to work late, and he missed those moments dearly.

He was in the middle of putting his boots on, with Kosmo dancing around his feet, when he realized, “Hey, Kosmo, where’s your dad?” Kosmo, unsurprisingly, didn’t have an answer for him, but Hunk caught Allura and Pidge exchanging knowing looks. “Okay, what happened?”

“The Yellow Lion kind of—er, didn’t let him in last night,” said Allura sheepishly.

Yellow let out a satisfied rumble. “W-What the hell, Yellow?” Hunk sputtered.

His Lion responded with an irritated growl, _He hurt you._ Memories of Keith...approaching him after the whole Faunatonium business and the shouting match that followed flashed in Hunk’s mind.

His cheeks grew hot. He was torn between feeling touched and mortified. _Yeah, but that was weeks ago_ , he tried to protest. _Things are different now._

Lance bit his lip, trying very hard not to laugh, the jerk. Next to him, Shiro coughed into his fist. “Breakfast, anyone?” he suggested delicately.

Hunk finished putting his boots on and followed after him. _Go in the corner and think about what you’ve done_ , he scolded Yellow.

Yellow grumbled one last time before falling silent, but Hunk knew his Lion didn’t regret what he did at all.

* * *

Hunk’s resolve to apologize to Keith for Yellow’s behaviour yesterday lasted all the way until he actually met the other boy’s eyes across the campsite. Keith was wearing his hair in a low, messy ponytail and had clearly just changed his bandages.

Maybe it was guilt, or the fact that Keith looked strangely vulnerable at that moment, but whatever it was, any courage Hunk might have had instantly evaporated.

He ducked his head and caught Keith doing the same. He heard Allura blow out a quiet breath behind him.

During breakfast, Krolia announced that she and Kolivan were going to leave their group to rebuild the Blades. Kolivan was still weak, but both Galra were confident that it was only a matter of time before he regained his full strength. Kolivan’s appetite, at least, seemed to be returning quickly if the way he devoured three full bowls of Hunk’s food that morning was any indication.

There were some tears (mostly from Coran), but there was also an underlying sense of hope. Even with the blow Macidus had dealt the Blades, the fact that Kolivan—the Blades’ own leader—had survived felt like a promising omen. It meant that there had to be more Blades who were still out there.

(Hunk wondered if that meant there was hope for him, too.)

Hunk watched as Krolia and Keith embraced. Keith, for all that he had grown in the Quantum Abyss, still only came up to his mother’s shoulders. Krolia whispered something in her son’s ear, making him jump, glance over at Hunk (which, _what?_ ), and turn back to her with thinned lips. He said something that made Krolia smile tenderly and brush his hair out of his frowning face.

They exchanged a few more words before Krolia kissed the crown of Keith’s head and they pulled apart. But, instead of joining Kolivan by the ship, Krolia began walking towards Hunk. He blinked when she stopped in front of him. “Hunk,” said Krolia.

Hunk glanced at Keith, who was staring at his mother’s back with raised eyebrows. When he caught Hunk looking at him, he gave him a helpless shrug. Hunk turned back to Krolia and had to crane his neck to meet her gaze. “Um, yeah?” he swallowed. _What could Keith’s mom possibly want with me?_

“I’d like to share an old Galra proverb with you, if that’s alright?”

Huh. Of all the possible things Hunk expected Krolia to say, that...had not been one of them. “Um, sure, if you want,” he replied, because what else could he say?

Krolia recited a string of Galran words that Hunk had no hope of remembering. He heard Coran let out a considering hum. “I have no idea what that means,” Hunk admitted.

Krolia smiled. She had a dimple on the left side of her jaw, the same as Keith. “It means, ‘We carry the weight of our pasts alone because we must, but we carry the weight of the future together because we can’.”

Hunk blinked again. That sounded...oddly comforting for a Galran phrase, even if he still wasn’t sure he understood it. “Lotor’s nanny never mentioned anything like that,” he said instead.

“ _Lotor’s nanny?_ ” Keith and Romelle exclaimed in unison, prompting a snicker from Lance.

Krolia quirked an eyebrow, but she looked more amused than anything else. “It’s one of our lesser known sayings,” she chuckled. She gave Hunk a considering look. “Take care, Hunk,” she said at last.

Hunk got the distinct impression that there was more to what she was saying, but he didn’t know what it was and Krolia didn’t look like she was going to share it anytime soon. “Thanks, I-I will.”

Then, after the rest of the team finished saying their goodbyes, they parted ways.

* * *

Hunk was pathetically grateful when both Shiro and Kosmo started riding with him more regularly after that. The wolf was especially determined to stick by his side whenever possible, which was unexpected but not unwanted. Keith, surprisingly, never once commented on the arrangement, even though Kosmo was technically _his_ pet.

Despite Hunk’s curiosity, he couldn’t bring himself to ask Keith about it. Because that would mean actually talking to him, which would more than likely lead to talking about Macidus.

So, as the next few days turned into weeks, he kept his mouth shut. It was better that way.

That all changed when, about two weeks after they split up from Krolia and Kolivan, Hunk received an incoming transmission.

And it was coming from the Black Lion.

Yellow rumbled indignantly but Hunk ignored him along with the frantic beating of his heart as he reluctantly accepted the call. He knew Keith well enough to know that he wouldn’t call unless it was about something important. Behind his chair, Kosmo was napping without a care in the galaxy.

When he opened the line, the first thing he was struck by was Keith’s scar. It had healed up faster than a normal burn injury would have, leaving behind a pale pink lightning pattern on the side of Keith’s face.

But to Hunk, he still looked unbearably handsome.

“ _Hunk! Um, hey,_ ” Keith stuttered, sounding weirdly nervous considering he was the one who initiated the call.

“Hey,” Hunk replied cautiously. “Did you need something?”

Keith shook his head. “ _No, I just..._ ” he trailed off. He looked terribly young and unsure for someone who routinely threw himself headfirst into danger. “ _I was wondering if I can...apologize, if it’s not too late._ ”

“For...Macidus?”

“ _N-No, I mean, I_ am _sorry about that, too, but…_ ” Keith shifted awkwardly in his seat. “ _I want to apologize for...our fight._ ”

It took Hunk a moment to even remember that they were still technically in a fight.

 _Are you seriously suggesting that I’m supposed to be_ happy _that I’m your second choice?_

“Oh.” Hunk’s cheeks grew warm. “Um, sure. But Keith, it’s really okay—”

 _No, it’s not_ , Yellow rumbled at the same time Keith said, “ _No, I-I want to._ ” He took a deep breath before continuing, “ _I’m sorry, Hunk. I wasn’t being fair to you. I made you think you were something you weren’t and really hurt you. I-I wish I could take it back, but I can’t, so...I’m sorry._ ”

The memory of that night had all but dulled into a faintly throbbing wound now in contrast to the sharp, stabbing pang it had been all those months ago. And Keith’s apology—it didn’t fix _everything_ , but his honesty went a long way towards healing that hurt.

“Thank you,” said Hunk, offering the other boy a smile. “I really appreciate that.” Yellow grunted softly, accepting Keith’s apology for now. “And it’s fine. I know you don’t l-like me like that.” The words cut the inside of his mouth as they left his lips, especially since this was the first time he was saying them out loud, but he needed to put this to bed once and for all.

Keith sucked his breath in through his teeth. “ _Hunk, there’s something you should know—_ ”

“But we’re still friends, right?” Hunk interrupted before Keith could inadvertently twist the knife any further.

Keith snapped his mouth shut with a deafening ‘ _click_ ’. Hunk could see him chewing the inside of his cheek, but he must have seen some of the desperation on Hunk’s face, because he eventually nodded. “ _Yeah, of course we are,_ ” he said earnestly.

Kosmo made a snuffling sound at that moment, clearly having just woken up from his nap, and shuffled forward. Keith’s eyes softened. “ _Hey, buddy._ ”

Hunk reached down to pet the wolf’s head. “Sorry I’ve been keeping him for so long. Do you want me to send him back to you?”

“ _No, it’s fine. I think he prefers hanging out with you more than me, anyway._ ” Keith grinned.

“I bet it’s ‘cause all the food is here,” Hunk teased. “It’s a regular party here in Yellow, especially whenever Shiro’s around, too.”

“ _I’m glad they’re both there to look out for you,_ ” Keith chuckled, sounding almost wistful.

Hunk blushed, remembering what happened on Macidus’s planet. “About Yellow locking you out the other night…”

“ _It’s okay. He was just worried about you and I get it,_ ” said Keith. “ _We lov—we all care about you, Hunk. I know we can’t change what happened with Macidus…_ ” he spat the Druid’s name out with more venom in his voice than Hunk had ever heard from him before. “ _...But that doesn’t mean we’re not worried._ ”

On instinct, Hunk began to reply, “I’m so—” Yellow cut him off with an overpowering growl, _Enough, no more apologies._

And Hunk couldn’t stand disappointing anyone, least of all the giant mechanical Lion he was telepathically and emotionally bonded to. He cleared his throat. “Still, you shouldn’t have had to see all of...that...back in the cave.”

Keith frowned. “ _Me? Hunk, you didn’t deserve to go through any of that in the first place._ ”

It was similar to what Coran had told Hunk when he got out of the healing pod after his rescue, but hearing that again made Hunk’s chest grow lighter, made it easier for him to breathe.

“ _Um, if...if you ever need anything, I…_ ” Keith continued. His cheeks were flushed, and the sight was far more adorable than it should’ve been. “ _Just...anything at all, I-I’ll be here. Doesn’t matter what time it is or whatever._ ” His Adam’s apple bobbed furiously in his throat. “ _A-And if you’re not comfortable with me, then I know Lance and the others will be more than happy to help. Just...don’t shut us out again, please,_ ” Keith pleaded. His eyes were painfully bright.

_We carry the weight of our pasts alone because we must, but we carry the weight of the future together because we can._

Hunk gulped. He still felt the instinctive need to hide his scars and hurt from the rest of the team, especially Keith, but Krolia’s cryptic words kept pressing down on his shoulders.

He gathered enough courage to nod. “Okay,” he promised.

He didn’t know if he could keep his promise, but he knew he could at least try. Not just for Keith or even the rest of the team, but for himself.

* * *

Keith couldn’t help replaying his last conversation with Krolia whenever the comms were silent. Her absence haunted him like a phantom limb, but that wasn’t the reason he was thinking of her now.

“ _Your mate is strong; he’ll get through this,_ ” she’d whispered to him.

Keith still recalled, with vicious clarity, the way a stone fell to the pit of his stomach at her statement. He had glanced at Hunk before turning back to his mother with pursed lips. “ _He’s not my mate,_ ” he’d insisted, feeling his heart crack as he spoke. _He’s not my_ anything, he thought, _and he’ll probably never_ be _my anything._

(Maybe, he’d wondered darkly, all his visions of Hunk in the Quantum Abyss had been nothing more than illusions manifesting from his subconscience.)

As if able to hear his thoughts, Krolia had smiled at him and gently brushed his fringe out of his eyes. “ _Have faith. If there’s anything I’ve learned in the last twenty or so decaphoebs, it’s that love has a way of bringing people together in unexpected ways,_ ” she’d said.

And, like a child, Keith wanted to believe her. After all, he was proof enough of his mother’s claim.

But she and Pops—the two of them had been _meant_ for each other and theirs was the kind of love story that people made movies about. Him and Hunk? There was a wide, gaping space that stretched between them now, almost as endless as all the skies in the universe, and Keith didn’t know how to bridge the distance—or if he even could.

The best thing he could do now was, as Allura told him, to be there for Hunk. Keep the promise he made to him when they found Acxa all those months ago—get him back to his family on Earth.

“ _Hey, Pidge, why is it so dark out here?_ ” Lance asked, the first to break the silence they had been traveling in for the last few hours.

“ _I can't be sure, but my theory is that this area is surrounded by some kind of nebula that blocks most of the light,_ ” Pidge explained.

“ _Oooh yeah, must be a patch of that dark matter I’ve heard about._ ”

“ _That’s_ not _what dark matter is._ ”

“ _Although, when it's_ this _dark, I guess it doesn't_ matter _, right, guys?_ ” Hunk joked. After a beat of silence, he sighed, “ _This is why Shiro and Kosmo are the only ones who’ll still ride with me, isn't it?_ ”

 _I would_ , Keith thought, amused and fond despite the cloud of frustration hanging over the team.

_So, you’re telling me that if Shiro were to come in here right now and confess his feelings for you, you wouldn’t pick him over me?_

Keith shuddered as Hunk’s words from all those months ago echoed in his head. A small part of him still longed for Shiro, that was true, but the rest of him—the parts that were now engraved with Hunk’s name—ached for Hunk even more.

While the team moved onto discussing other ways to recharge the Lions, Keith glanced at where the Yellow Lion was displayed on the corner of his screen. His fingers itched for his console. It would be _so, so easy_ to call Hunk up right now and spill the words that had been trapped inside him for months: _No, you’re wrong. I do have feelings for you, and I want to be with you and only you._

“ _I...I can’t help but feel this must be my fault_ ” Allura murmured, drawing Keith’s attention back to the conversation. “ _You were able to recharge Voltron before, but since I joined—_ ”

“ _It's no one's fault,_ ” Shiro interrupted gently. “ _Being a Paladin of Voltron takes training. You just haven't had time to focus on working together to find your balance in this configuration._ ”

“ _Well, we've got nothing but time now,_ ” Pidge said wryly.

“ _Pidge is right,_ ” added Hunk. “ _We've been down before and...and we always come back. This time is no different._ ” His voice wavered a little but he was beginning to sound like his old self again. Keith would take that—a happy or even angry Hunk—over the despondent boy they’d left behind on Macidus’s planet in a heartbeat.

No, it wouldn’t be fair to saddle Hunk with his own feelings on top of everything else that’s happened, Keith decided, even as he felt his chest beginning to grow heavy.

(He could live with that, he _could_.)

“ _I’m glad you’re here, Shiro,_ ” said Lance. “ _You’re a really great leader. I mean, not that Keith is terrible, but he’s baby compared to you,_ ” he continued in a teasing tone. “ _Hey, maybe that’s why Bob gave you that pacifier._ ”

“ _Lance..._ ” Allura sighed. Her tone was admonishing, but they could all hear her fighting a losing battle against a giggle.

Keith could hear everyone else trying to muffle their own laughter (with the exception of Romelle, who let out a full-blown screeching laugh), but Hunk’s distinctive delighted snort made the embarrassment worth it.

“I’m not afraid to ask Red to kick you out, you know,” Keith grunted, but he knew his tone came out more fond than irritated. It was weirdly relieving to fall back into this kind of banter with Lance after so long.

(It was even nicer to hear Hunk laugh again, which Keith knew was a sentiment they all shared.)

Red let out an amused purr, as if to say, _Nah, he’s grown on me and I would feel bad_ , which had the unfortunate side effect of making Lance laugh like a hyena. “ _Ooh, looks like Red loves me more than you, Mullet. Isn’t that right, boy?_ ” he cackled.

 _Traitor_ , Keith chided his former Lion. He felt the sensation of a cat butting its head against his leg and knew that Red didn’t take it personally, that he still had a place in Red’s heart, the same way Red still had a place in his.

“ _But Lance is right, Shiro. After what you’ve been through, the strength you’ve shown in leading Voltron again is incredibly admirable,_ ” Coran piped up, which was echoed by Black’s hum of approval.

Keith didn’t even have to see Shiro’s face to know that he was definitely bright red right now. “ _I had help,_ ” Shiro replied sheepishly. “ _That’s why there are five of you—to lift each other up._ ”

“So, what should we do? Maybe some flight formation exercises?” Keith suggested after a while.

“ _Um, guys? What’s that?_ ” Pidge asked.

Keith heard a thunderous roar before he saw it—sparks of light dancing in the distance that reminded him of an electrical storm.

And then all hell broke loose.

* * *

Hunk had lost track of how many times Keith’s hourly alarm had gone off since they got separated from their Lions. He didn’t mind it during the first few days—there was a kind of comfort in being able to keep track of the time—but now, he suspected he wasn’t the only one who had grown to hate the sound of it.

“Keith, shouldn’t we sound off?” Lance asked hesitantly after nearly a whole minute passed.

Hunk frowned. Keith had been fastidious about them sounding off from the very beginning—why wasn’t he saying anything now?

Keith scoffed, “What’s the point?”

Hunk felt the bitterness in the other boy’s voice in his own throat. He swallowed uneasily around the ashes.

“...Lance here.”

“Pidge here.”

“Allura here.”

Hunk chewed his lip before chiming in, “I am Hunk.” He waited for Keith to yell at him for not doing roll call properly like he had last time, but the reprimand never came.

This lack of caring on Keith’s part just felt... _wrong_.

“I wonder how my dad and Matt are doing,” said Pidge, her voice uncharacteristically small yet deafening in the ensuing silence.

“What does it matter? For all they know, we’re probably dead. And hey, if you give it a few more days, they won’t be wrong,” said Keith.

Hunk heard Allura gasp and Pidge let out a choked cry, followed by Lance shouting, “ _What the fuck, Keith?_ ”

“Keith, come on,” Hunk pleaded.

Either Keith didn’t hear him or was choosing to ignore him, because he scowled, “What? You all know it’s true. It’s been almost three weeks, we’ve got no food and only a bit of moisture left in our suits—how long do you really think we can survive, huh?”

“It’ll be over a lot sooner for you if you don’t shut the hell up,” Lance snarled.

Hunk couldn’t stand it anymore. “Lance, Keith—everyone, _stop!_ ” He pulled out of the circle to face them all. They all had dark, heavy bags beneath their eyes and a tightness in their jaws that reflected just how big of a toll the last couple of weeks have taken on them.

It was like staring into his own reflection during the first few days after his rescue.

“Look, guys, I understand what’s happening here. You’re all brave heroes who don’t know how to react to being scared, and it’s causing you to attack one another.” Hunk gulped, “That, or you’re all going space mad. Hopefully, you’re just scared. B-But I’m scared all the time! I can talk you through it.”

Lance let out an ugly laugh that sounded foreign to his normally velvet-smooth voice. “Oh, you don’t need to bother with Mr. Lone Wolf over here. He’s probably just going to float off by himself anyway.”

“Wait, Lance, no—”

“ _Fine_ , I will,” Keith bit out as he activated his jetpack.

Keith was leaving again.

He was leaving again and this time, _he wasn’t coming back_.

“No, don’t!” Hunk screamed, jetting forward and not stopping until he had a firm grip on Keith’s leg. “We have to stay together!”

Keith turned around. He was glaring at Hunk like he was a stranger. “Why, Hunk?” he spat. “Is there anything holding us together besides some messed up series of coincidences? I mean, what are we? Some chosen saviours? Are we even frie—” His words died on his lips as something like recognition flared up in his eyes. All the tension in his limbs bled out of him like a flame without oxygen.

_I know you don’t like me like that. But we’re still friends, right?_

Hunk gingerly pulled him back into the circle. “We’re friends, Keith, that’s what you told me, right?” he said softly, shifting his grip to Keith’s shoulder.

Keith flinched at the touch and dropped his gaze. “We are,” he eventually said, voice thick with guilt. “Hunk, Pidge, I’m sor—”

“Hang on, what is _that_?” Allura pointed at a dot of light in the distance. “It-It looks like a planet!”

“No way,” Lance uttered. “It’s _Earth_.”

_What?_

Hunk followed their gaze; it took a while for his eyes to adjust, but Allura wasn’t wrong—whatever that was in the distance, it certainly _looked_ like a planet.

“That wave must have knocked us all the way across the universe!” Pidge cheered.

“ _We’re home._ ” Lance was already firing his jetpack. The others instantly followed suit before Hunk could even say anything. “We’re gonna make it, guys!”

The pure excitement and relief in his voice was so palpable that, for several seconds, Hunk wanted to believe him.

But something in his paranoid gut was screaming that they needed to get as far away from here as possible, that whatever was waiting for them on that planet was _wrong_. He was intimately familiar with this sensation.

The last time he felt this...this black sludge of _wrongness_ was when he was still Macidus’s prisoner.

“Waitwaitwaitwait—guys! Where's the sun? Where are the other planets? Or the moon?” he called out, but no one even spared him a backwards glance. “Stop! This is too good to be true!” He surged forward until he was blocking the rest of the team. “Everybody, _stop!_ ”

“Hunk, what are you doing?” cried Allura.

Lance’s glare was chilling. “Stop it, Hunk!”

(He’d _never_ raised his voice at Hunk like this before.)

Hunk swallowed, but pushed on despite the cord tightening around his neck. “No, no—something’s wrong!” _That’s not Earth—why can’t they see that?_

“You’re hallucinating!” Pidge barked. “You’re going space mad—just let us take you home!”

Hunk recoiled from the sharpness of her words, but only for a heartbeat.

Then, hot fury swept over him. “Don’t you think that _I, out of all of us, would know what a hallucination would feel like the best?_ ” he screamed. He was distantly aware of Keith letting out a gasp, but the storm of rage, fear, and hurt swirling within him was louder. “Listen to yourselves! You’re letting all of this get the better of you—there’s no way that can be Earth!” Tears stung the corner of Hunk’s eyes. “ _Please_ , just listen to me for one minute!”

“Hunk’s right.”

Hunk whipped his head towards Keith. The heavy bags underneath the boy’s eyes were still there, but his eyes seemed clearer now.

He drifted to Hunk’s side and squeezed his shoulder, his hand providing a solid anchor. He nodded at Hunk before turning back to face the others. “Think about it—Pidge, you said that it would take us one and a half years to get back to Earth, and that was _with_ our Lions, right?”

To Hunk’s relief, some of the cloudiness in Pidge’s eyes began to fade away. “I...I think so,” she admitted, sounding so uncertain and _young_ that Hunk couldn’t help letting some of his anger dissipate. It was far too easy to forget just how young Pidge really was, how much she always seemed to be trying to compensate for it with her intelligence.

“Which means there’s no way we could have covered that same distance in less than a month with the way we are right now, no matter how far we got pushed by that wave earlier,” Keith finished quietly.

“A-And the stars. I don’t recognize any of these constellations,” said Lance. He sounded more frustrated than angry now, reason slowly returning to him.

“Should we continue to proceed?” Allura added, looking back and forth between them and the unknown planet.

“I don’t think we should go near it,” said Keith. He started drifting back the way they came, keeping a guarded eye on the planet all the while.

Allura followed after him with a nod. Lance and Pidge spared the planet one last longing look before reluctantly activating their jetpacks. Finally, Hunk brought up the rear.

A few seconds later, he heard it—a growl.

He whipped around just in time to catch Earth—the planet that _looked_ like Earth shimmering, glitching in and out of sight until—

“ _Holy crap, what the quiznak is that thing?_ ” Lance shrieked, his voice cracking hysterically.

 _Same_ , Hunk thought as he stared at the enormous alien equivalent of a stingray glaring hungrily at them. It was easily the size of a Galra cruiser.

It opened its mouth, revealing what might be best described as a _tunnel_ of fangs—and then it charged.

“Guys, this thing is hunting us!” Lance shouted.

Pidge grunted, “It’s gonna get us all unless we do something!”

“Like what?” Allura narrowly weaved out of the way as the creature shot towards her, nearly bowling her over. “We can’t even use our bayards!” she cried, referring to the last time they all tried to summon their bayards since they got separated from the Lions and failed.

Allura was right. What could they even do? Outrunning this creature was impossible; even if they could, where would they go?

The only option they had left was to stay and fight. Hunk didn’t know how yet, but he _needed_ to protect his friends.

It started as a low hum in his ears first, a sound he barely registered after being without for so long. It spread into a quake in his veins and the next thing Hunk knew, his bayard was materializing in his hands and he was shooting straight at the alien stingray with a roar.

The alien jolted backwards with a screech, giving the rest of the team just enough time to convene around Hunk. “Whoa,” breathed Pidge, staring at his bayard. It was still some type of gun, but it was much, much bigger now, resembling a cannon that dwarfed Hunk’s own body. “How did you—”

Hunk hefted his bayard up and readied it for the next shot. “Get out of here! I’ll buy you some time!” He ignored everyone’s shouts of alarm and bolted towards the stingray, unleashing everything he had.

He had to protect the team—was the only one who could. He refused to stand by and do nothing like last time—

A hand wrapped around his ankle, jerking him to a halt. He glanced over his shoulder to find Pidge gazing at him desperately. Behind her, the rest of the team held onto her like a daisy chain. “What are you doing—”

“ _Fire jetpacks!_ ” Pidge screamed.

Before Hunk even realized what was happening, he was being pulled out of the way of the stingray’s demonic jaws.

Once they had put some distance between themselves and the stingray, he turned to the team. “What are you guys doing? I told you to escape!”

“Why _the hell_ would we ever do that without you?” Lance snapped, but he sounded more concerned than angry.

“Yeah, you can’t expect us to just leave you,” said Pidge. Her tone was incredulous, as if the very idea of it was unthinkable to her.

“We’re a team, Hunk,” came Allura’s voice at Hunk’s back. “We have to stick together, like you said.”

“Hunk, I…” Keith swallowed. “I left you behind once and I’ll never forgive myself for that—”

“Keith…” Hunk frowned. He thought they already talked about it.

“—but _like hell_ am I going to let that happen again,” Keith promised. There was a blazing heat in his words.

“None of us will,” said Lance. He clapped a hand on Keith’s shoulder and they shared a look.

Keith nodded. “I’m sorry I said those things earlier. To Hunk, Pidge—all of you. I was wrong.” Hunk couldn’t help gaping at him. He’d heard Keith say sorry before, but to hear him admit he was wrong was...huge. “This...This series of messed up coincidences happened for a reason. They brought us together as Paladins.” Keith exhaled, “But more importantly, they brought us together as friends—a family.”

And then, in the back of Hunk’s mind, he heard the Lions roar.

* * *

Much later, Hunk would wonder exactly what the hell happened while they were in the nebula, but right now, all he could focus on was Pidge’s voice exclaiming the very words he had been desperate to hear for months.

“ _I recognize these constellations! This is Earth’s solar system!_ ” Hunk could hear Pidge tapping away at her console before crying out, “ _It’s the Milky Way!_ ”

“We’re home,” Hunk breathed, collapsing back in his seat and letting out a relieved sigh that seemed to carry with it the invisible weight that had been bearing down on his shoulders in the last few months.

“ _We’re finally here,_ ” said Shiro, like he couldn’t believe his own words.

It was Keith who broke their stupor. “ _Well, what are we waiting for?_ ”

They were going home.


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hunk was distantly aware of Keith calling his name as he stumbled out of the car. He caught Sam’s eye and choked out, “So...my family?” _Please tell me they’re okay,_ please.
> 
> Sam’s expression turned grave. “We’ll get them back soon,” he said quietly.
> 
> Hunk’s heart stopped beating.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Canada Day to my fellow Canadians! To everyone else, it’s imperative that you go chug a ton of maple syrup in our honour today :P

A garish orange dome rose before them as they crested the last dune towards the Garrison. Panic gripped Hunk as he wondered what new atrocities the Galra had come up with in the last couple of years before he registered the familiar hexagonal pattern.

“ _Is that...Altean?_ ” Allura asked over the radio from the other vehicle, voicing Hunk’s own thoughts.

Griffin’s—and Hunk still couldn’t believe that _James fucking Griffin_ , of all people, was the one who saved their asses from the drones and sentries that ambushed them earlier—voice replied, “ _Dr. Holt reverse-engineered it from your ship’s shield system. The...Castle of Lions, right?_ ”

“ _Yes,_ ” said Allura. “ _We...lost it in battle a few months ago._ ”

 _Or years_ , Hunk thought but didn’t vocalize. No matter how long ago it had been, the scar that the Castle ship’s destruction left on all of them was still raw. _But everything’s gonna be fine now. We’re going to build another ship, combine forces with the Garrison, and end this war once and for all._

Plaht City, or what remained of it, still weighed heavily on his mind. He knew, before arriving, that Earth as it was now was likely going to be very different from the Earth he remembered, but actually _seeing_ the contrast in front of him was a stark reminder of just what they were up against now.

They finally reached the Garrison with Griffin bringing up the rear. Hunk, Lance, Pidge, and Keith’s driver—a chipper blue-haired, dark-skinned girl who introduced herself as Nadia Rizavi—stopped in front of an intimidatingly large crowd gathered outside the entrance. It was mostly made up of officers, but Hunk spotted a few civilians scattered around.

Rizavi barely managed to get the doors open when Hunk heard a woman’s voice call out, “ _Katie!_ ”

“Mom!” Pidge flew out of her seat and into said woman’s arms.

It struck Hunk, as Pidge’s dad joined them, that this was the second time he had seen Pidge so happy. The first time was when she came back from her solo mission with Matt trailing behind her, taller and older than he had looked in his picture, but with the same sly and determined gleam in his eyes.

“ _Lance!_ ”

Both Hunk and Lance turned to see a familiar group of people Hunk had met in person a handful of times, and through video call at least a hundred more. Two kids, a boy and girl who shared Lance’s chin and smile, darted forward first. “Uncle Lance!”

Before Hunk could even blink, Lance was hurling himself out of his seat like a man possessed. He dropped to his knees as the kids tackled him in a hug, followed by the rest of the McClain-Serranos swarming him within seconds.

Hunk caught Coran smiling tearily at them as he got out of Griffin’s car and felt his own eyes water. They all knew that Lance had been hit with homesickness the hardest since they left Earth, and seeing him reunited with his family after being apart for so long was its own victory.

“Takashi!”

Shiro froze in the middle of helping Allura and Romelle out of the other car before whirling in the direction of that voice. Hunk frowned. _Hang on, that sounded like…_

Professor Wilder emerged from the crowd, panting like he’d just run a marathon. Shiro sucked in a breath, then, as if in a trance, started towards him. “Adam?”

Wilder collided against him, flinging his arms around Shiro in a vice grip. Shiro brought his arms up to return the embrace, his entire body practically deflating in relief. He closed his eyes and turned his nose into Wilder’s hair, breathing him in.

Wilder shoved him away and punched his left shoulder. “You— _You are so goddamn infuriating, you know that?_ ” he yelled, voice cracking.

Hunk raised an eyebrow; in all the years he had the older man as a professor, he’d never heard him raise his voice like that before, much less swear.

“Adam, I—”

“Don’t,” said Wilder, shutting Shiro up with a finger to his lips. “I’ve got four years of grief that I’ve been processing with a therapist, so when we finally sit down to have _that_ conversation like the adults we are—and trust me, we _will_ —I want my wine and cue cards with me, and nothing less.”

Shiro smiled, his gaze warm and fond. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Wilder whipped his head around, eyes widening when they locked onto Keith. “Keith! Oh my god, you’re okay!” He let go of Shiro and lunged at Keith.

Keith stiffened as the older man enveloped him in a hug. “A-Adam! You remember me?”

“Of course I do, you brat.” Wilder pulled back to look at him, his eyes flickering briefly to his scar. “Even if you hadn’t been the biggest troublemaker of your year, you’re Takashi’s friend—practically family. That makes you my family, too.”

_Family._

Hunk scanned the crowd; none of the faces gawking at them were the ones he was looking for. He strained his ears in the midst of the chatter that had sprung up among their audience, but couldn’t hear his family's voices at all.

Dread engulfed him, a fierce gale that froze his very veins into ice. _No, they can’t be..._

He was distantly aware of Keith calling his name as he stumbled out of the car. He caught Sam’s eye and choked out, “So...my family?” _Please tell me they’re okay,_ please.

Sam’s expression turned grave. “We’ll get them back soon,” he said quietly.

Hunk’s heart stopped beating.

* * *

They introduced the Alteans to Iverson before being swiftly escorted into the base and given Garrison uniforms to wear—not really an upgrade, but at least they were clean. Afterwards, they were ushered away once again, this time to a conference room for a debrief. It looked like the Garrison’s entire upper brass was there, along with Griffin, Rizavi, and two other members of their team.

Hunk felt his friends’ eyes on him the whole time they were being shuffled around, but stubbornly ignored them. He knew that as soon as he acknowledged them he was going to start crying like a baby. He needed to keep it together, at least for now.

“...Sendak’s forces remain at bay, but without a meaningful supply line, we’re slowly being suffocated,” Sam finished, indicating to the map on the screen.

“And no one else put up a fight against Sendak?” said Shiro.

“Small underground pockets of resistance have attempted to do so with varying degrees of success. Eventually, all were discovered and systematically wiped out,” Lance’s sister, Veronica, explained. Her tone was eerily clinical. “Earth’s defense capabilities simply don’t stand a chance against the Galra.”

Before Hunk’s brain could catch up, his mouth was already blurting out, “Why don’t we bring more people into this base?” He kept his gaze firmly fixed on Sam and Veronica, even though he was keenly aware that he now had the attention of every single person in the room, including Admiral Sanda.

“We’ve had to put a halt on our extraction ops as they were proving to be too risky,” Sam replied, voice calm but apologetic.

“But there are good people out there—they could be protected,” Hunk insisted, swallowing the bile threatening to rise in his throat. “My _family’s_ out there.”

The way Sam was looking at him now looked too much like pity. “I’m sorry, Hunk.”

Hunk faintly registered Lance laying a hand on his shoulder, but the white noise that was now buzzing in his ears was far more overpowering. His own family was still _out there_ and in the Galra’s hands. What if the Galra was making them fight in the Arena? What if they were being tortured right now? Or worse, what if they were _dead?_ “But if we have an opportunity _now_ —”

“Hey!” Hunk jolted as Griffin stepped forward from the other side of the room. “Do Paladins not understand the chain of command? Your CO said it was too dangerous!” Hunk wilted under his scowl.

Keith jumped to his feet so quickly that he sent his chair clattering harshly behind him. He was baring his teeth and growling so loudly that Hunk was surprised his Galra eyes weren’t out. Griffin flinched, but, to his credit, stood his ground under his glare. “In case you haven’t noticed,” Keith sneered, “We haven’t _been_ a part of your chain of command in years!”

“That’s enough,” Sam interrupted. At that, Griffin jumped back into parade rest, dropping his head in embarrassment. Keith remained standing until a pointed cough from Shiro spurred him into righting his chair and sitting back down. He didn’t stop glaring at Griffin, though.

Sam turned back to Hunk. “Believe me, I understand what you're going through, Hunk. We all have family out there, but we have to weigh our options.” He let out a shuddering sigh. “We can't lose ten people to save twelve. I'm sorry.”

_No!_

But even as every cell in Hunk’s body screamed in protest, he knew that there was no way he was going to win this battle. He dropped his head, but still felt Griffin and all the other officers’ judgmental stares piercing him. He could practically hear their thoughts: this _is one of the so-called defenders of the universe?_

No one said anything for a few heartbeats as they contemplated Sam’s words. Finally, Allura stood up and faced the room, tall and regal. “Well, then let’s find out what we _can_ do,” she said.

* * *

With Pidge and Allura working on decoding Sendak’s memories, the rest of the team was officially left to their own devices. Professor Wilder— _Adam_ (“Please,” the older man had said when Lance and Pidge tried to address him by his title. “Call me Adam. I haven’t been your teacher in years and, frankly, it just makes me feel old.”) pulled Shiro away, probably so they could have that long-awaited ‘talk’ he was referring to earlier. Meanwhile, Coran and Romelle followed Sam back to the Atlas to work on figuring out a way around the energy source problem.

Lance invited Hunk and Keith to join him and his family for a late dinner, but Hunk declined. “You sure?” Lance asked, brows furrowing in worry. Keith had an identical expression on his face and it—it was just too much.

“Yeah, I’m wiped and don’t really feel up to being around other people right now,” said Hunk, waving Lance away. “But you two should go—catch up. I’ll have my tablet if you need me.”

He pivoted in the opposite direction and started walking before either of them could respond. Lance meant well, but Hunk knew that seeing his best friend with his family while his own—while Mama, Dad, Uncle Filo, Aunt Maya, Kyle, Ava were still out there, would shatter him.

(He hadn’t been there when they needed him most, but now that he was back, he was completely helpless to do anything for them and _he hated it._ )

He didn’t know how long he walked, but, perhaps to nobody’s surprise, soon ended up by the thankfully empty student communal kitchen. Exhaustion, a muggy and heavy fog, settled over him, warring with the adrenaline roaring just beneath his skin like a livewire. Turning in early was probably the more sensible option, but the last thing Hunk wanted to do right now was to sleep.

It had been a while since he’d been in a proper kitchen, and a part of him still missed the Castle with a bone-weary intensity, but it didn’t take long for him to get reaccustomed to his comfort routines.

Yet, in spite of his best efforts to fall into autopilot, memories steadily seeped into his mind’s eye. Of the last time he played around with his baby cousins before going off to the Garrison for what was supposed to be his junior year, of his traditional cooking and baking sessions with Mama and Aunt Maya, and of the countless hours he spent with Dad at the garage, learning how to fix all kinds of cars—

He didn’t realize he’d turned one of the taps the wrong way until he was being assaulted by ice water. Even though he managed to turn it off, he could already feel the cold snaking down his body—his legs, arms, and neck. Suffocating him.

_Hello, my lion cub, I was hoping to see you again some day._

No. Nonono _no_. Macidus was _dead_ —what the hell was he doing here?

“Hunk? Is everything okay in here?” Keith’s voice called out from behind him, but it was distant, like trying to hear someone across a string connecting two cans together.

Hunk turned around.

_There is one way you can pay me back. Just tell me where the Blade of Marmora’s base is._

He was back on Macidus’s planet, in that damn cave. There were blades everywhere—all of them jutting out along the walls, ceiling, and ground. And Keith—beautiful, terrifying Keith—stood in the very center of it all. His skin was so pale, it practically glowed in the firelight. He cocked his head at Hunk, smirked, and opened his mouth—

“—Your name is Hunk Garrett. You—You’re back at the Garrison, on Earth, and you pilot the Yellow Lion of Voltron.”

Hunk blinked. His hands were clutching the countertop beneath him so tightly that his knuckles were beginning to pale.

“Hunk?”

He lifted his head and found Keith hovering at his side, watching him like he was afraid Hunk was about to disappear any second. Keith lifted his hand and reached out to him, but aborted the action at the last second and dropped it. “Are—Are you okay?” he asked hesitantly.

Hunk swallowed the lump in his throat but forced himself to nod. “Y-Yeah. I...I had another flashback,” he admitted, curling in on himself in shame. It’d been months since he saw Macidus die in front of him—he thought he was making progress. Why couldn’t he just be _better_ already?

Keith flinched; the sour, curdled milk feeling in Hunk’s gut grew. “Do you want me to get Lance and the others?” Keith asked, so, _so_ painfully earnest.

Hunk shook his head. He knew the others wouldn’t mind dropping whatever they were doing to make sure he was okay, but he’d feel too guilty about pulling them away from their own families and responsibilities. “No, it’s okay. I...I’ll be fine. You can go if you want, though. You don’t need to worry about me.” While the idea of being left alone to his own devices didn’t appeal to Hunk anymore, not when his anxiety voices were this loud and incessant, he hated the idea of being a burden—especially to Keith—even more.

“If you think I’m going to just leave you here by yourself, then you’ve got another think coming,” Keith huffed. “Besides, Lance’s family is nice and all, but I’d rather spend my time with you, if it’s all the same.” He said that so easily, too, like it was something he didn’t have to think about at all.

Warmth spread over Hunk’s chest as he allowed Keith to steer him onto a nearby stool with a steady hand on his back. Keith briefly left his side to rustle up some cups and finish brewing the tea Hunk had been in the middle of making.

“So, um.” Keith cleared his throat on his return, setting their drinks down between them and taking the seat next to Hunk. “I'm not really good at talking with people and I don't expect you to open up to me, but...if there's ever anything on your mind...”

A few months ago, Hunk’s first instinct would have been to lie, to keep his anxiety to himself and avoid stirring up a fuss. But he wasn’t the same frightened kid anymore—and he did promise the boy he loved that he was going to stop closing himself off from the team.

“This whole situation stinks,” Hunk said, surprising himself when his voice came out louder than he’d intended. “I can't believe we finally get back to Earth and it's been taken over by Galra!” He inhaled sharply, letting the maelstrom within him build up before continuing, “I know it's stupid, but I used to daydream about coming home to a peaceful Earth. And that would've been great! But I realized that nothing— _nothing_ would have been greater than seeing my family...”

 _And now_ , Macidus’s voice taunted in his brain, _who knows if you’ll ever see them again?_

“...But I _can't_ and all I keep thinking about is that _I wasn’t there for them_ —and I don't even know if they're okay!” he gasped out. “And I see Pidge and Lance and Shiro with their families and—I mean, I'm happy for them, I _am_. But it just...it makes me miss mine more.” He dropped his head and took another deep, shaky breath. “I-I just...I've never felt so alone and scared.”

He jumped when he felt Keith’s hand on his arm and whipped his head up. Keith was gazing at him like…

...Like he knew exactly what Hunk was going through right now.

“You’re not alone,” Keith told him hoarsely. “Look, Hunk, I never told you this...but, of all the Paladins, you're the one I'm most impressed by.”

_What?_

“It's no secret that you've been the most scared, but you've never backed down— _never_ ,” Keith continued, putting weight behind every word. “And to be brave is to go on in spite of fear—and that's who you are, Hunk. I know you're scared, but your family...they need you to be strong right now.”

_We carry the weight of our pasts alone because we must, but we carry the weight of the future together because we can._

Krolia’s cryptic words slowly began to make sense to Hunk. He still didn’t think that he could call himself brave, not in the same way the rest of the team was with the way they constantly ran headlong towards the slightest sign of danger, but hearing _Keith_ saying so was...well, it was _nice_.

But there was one thing that Keith was right about: Hunk’s family needed him. That meant he needed to stop wallowing, get off his ass, and actually _do something_ instead of waiting around for a miracle to happen.

He nodded. “Thanks, Keith. I really needed to hear that.” He finished the rest of his tea before doing what he always did whenever he wanted to express affection to anybody: he hugged Keith.

At first, he dismissed the way Keith stiffened in his embrace before tentatively hugging back, maybe not with the same level of enthusiasm, but certainly with intent if the way he was gripping the material on the back of Hunk’s uniform was any indication. Hunk knew that Keith wasn’t used to physical contact and affection, though, even if it was from a friend.

 _Or a former fuckbuddy who he_ knows _has feelings for him and wants nothing to do with_ , his brain drawled unkindly.

...Oh no.

Oh _no_.

Hunk pushed away from Keith, feeling as if his fingers had been scalded, and gulped. “Shit, I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to do that!”

Keith still had his arms half-raised and blinked at Hunk in confusion before a blush overtook his cheeks. “N-No, it’s fine,” he stuttered. “Really, I don’t mind,” he added when Hunk continued to frown at him.

Although Hunk desperately wanted to pick that last sentence apart—down to the syllables and intonations—he was no stranger to knowing how to quit while ahead. “Okay, well, I’m just gonna go,” he said, squaring his shoulders as he began to make his way to the door.

“Where are you going?”

Hunk paused and turned around to reply, “I'm going to get my family.”

Then, Keith smirked, but he looked nothing like the ‘Keith’ in Hunk’s flashback earlier. The smirk he was sporting now was oddly charming and daring—not even his horrid scar could take away from how handsome he looked at the moment, like a hero straight out of one of those cheesy romance novels that Hunk knew Lance and Pidge secretly adored.

“Not without me,” said Keith, his lovely ethereal eyes blazing with a fire that promised hell to anyone who stood in his way.

* * *

Hunk watched, fingers tightening around Veronica’s binoculars, as his parents were led further into the labour camp by a sentry, out of sight and, more crucially, out of Hunk’s grasp. He tried to take comfort in the fact that they were at least alive, but it didn’t change the fact that they were still trapped and Hunk was, once again, _useless_.

(He didn’t dare think about where Uncle Filo, Aunt Maya, and the twins were, but he had to believe they were okay.)

“Don’t worry, you just need to hang on a little longer,” he whispered, hoping against reason that they could hear him somehow. At his side, Keith tentatively curled his hand around Hunk’s wrist, grounding him. “We’re gonna get you out. _I’m_ going to get you out.”

* * *

The drive back to the Garrison afterwards was anticlimactic and somber. Keith didn’t let go of Hunk once, and Hunk was stupidly grateful for the warm anchor his touch provided. He caught Griffin shooting curious glances at them a few times, but couldn’t muster up the energy to care about what their old classmate was thinking.

When they got back to the Garrison, they found Lance and the rest of the team, along with Adam, waiting for them in the garage.

“I—uh, messaged them about our plan earlier, just in case we needed backup,” Keith explained under his breath, sounding nervous. “Is that okay? It’s just that...we‘re really worried about you.”

Hunk squeezed his hand. “It’s fine.” Even if he was annoyed, he couldn’t blame Keith for his actions; he was pretty sure he would’ve done the same if their situation was reversed.

Lance wordlessly pulled Hunk into a hug as soon as he was out of the car. “We’ll get them back,” he promised.

Hunk nodded and, dropping Keith’s hand, held on tightly to his best friend. “I know.”

When they finally pulled apart, Hunk noticed that Griffin and Veronica had tactfully retreated to the exit, still within sight but out of earshot.

Allura and Shiro gently nudged Pidge forward. She looked nervous, clutching a small plain box in her hands against her chest. “What’s that?” Hunk asked.

“Um…” Pidge’s gaze flickered over to Lance, blinking rapidly in panic.

Lance cleared his throat, taking the mantle. “Pidge and I couldn’t stop thinking about what you said a while back, about how you were having trouble telling what was real from what wasn’t…”

Hunk swallowed but nodded. The shame that usually accompanied whenever someone brought Macidus up, even indirectly, still pooled in the pit of his stomach like a stone, but not as heavily as before.

 _That’s just what moving on is like_ , Shiro had told him once during their space road trip. _Or, at least, I_ think _it’s supposed to feel like this_ , he’d joked, instantly making Hunk feel a lot better, knowing that he wasn’t the only one going through this process.

(Somewhere in the back of his mind, he felt Yellow’s tail brush against him.)

“...So we came up with something that we think—well, we _hope_ will help make things easier,” Lance continued.

“And I never did apologize for what I said to you when we were all space mad,” Pidge added, blushing when everyone’s eyes fell on her. “S-So, consider this a placeholder apology gift, too. I’ll get you something nicer once we get rid of Sendak and the Galra.”

A small smile tugged on Hunk’s lips despite himself. He never expected his friends to take what he said all those months ago to heart. “You really didn’t have to,” he murmured.

“We kind of do,” said Lance, leaning against his shoulder. “I mean, if it weren’t for you, we’d probably still be re-enacting _Cast Away_ in space, only without the Wilson volleyball.”

“Or worse, being digested in the belly of a bloody _Teleost_.” Allura shivered.

Coran hummed, stroking his moustache. “Anyhow, this three-dee printer technology of yours may be primitive, but I have to admit that it does get the job done.”

“What _is_ it, exactly?” Hunk asked, eyeing the box with more interest now.

“It was Lance’s idea,” Pidge continued. “He got it from this really old movie about people who travelled through dreams. Basically, they each had this totem thing that they carried, and whenever they weren’t sure whether they were in a dream or not, they would use their totems to ground them.”

“But Pidge and Shiro were the ones who actually operated the printer,” Lance jumped in, gesturing to the box. “Allura, Coran, Romelle, and I just supervised.”

“But Keith here was the one who alerted us to the fact that you may have been in want of some company tonight,” said Coran, inclining his head at Keith.

Keith looked away, a blush painting over his cheeks when Hunk turned to him. “I told you, we were worried,” he mumbled.

Hunk forced himself to ignore the butterflies fluttering in his rib cage. “But what about your families?” he asked, turning back to Lance, Pidge, and Shiro.

“You’re _our_ family, too,” said Shiro. He and Adam exchanged an unreadable look before he turned back to Hunk, offering him a warm smile.

Pidge popped the box open, revealing a small sculpture of a lion head. It looked like it was made of stone and roughly the size of a clementine. “Go on, it’s yours,” she encouraged.

Hunk hesitantly wrapped his fingers around it and lifted it. There was more weight to it than he had expected from something so small, as if the lion itself was whispering, I am here, I am here, I am here. It was also surprisingly warm to his touch, which likely meant it had just finished printing.

As Hunk held the totem up against his chest, he felt something there crack open, his breath rattling in his lungs. Somehow, the ‘thank you’ hanging at the tip of his tongue wasn’t enough. He didn’t think that there was anything in the universe that could properly encompass the gratitude engulfing his entire body right now.

But he had to say _something_. “Thank you,” he whispered, voice hoarse. “Really. It—It means a lot to me.” He squeezed the totem and nearly cried at the very real sensation of the ridges of the lion’s mane digging into his skin.

It was here and it was _real_. And that meant that Hunk must be here and real as well.

“I hope it helps,” Pidge told him. “And if there’s anything else you need, just let us know.”

“Sky’s the limit, buddy,” Lance piped in, skillfully steering them into a more light-hearted atmosphere.

“I think it’s a little too late for that,” Romelle quipped, “considering how we’ve managed to not only go beyond the sky at least a hundred times over, but beaten space and time itself.”

Lance rolled his eyes good-naturedly. “It’s just a _saying_ , Romelle.”

“I don’t get it—”

Hunk watched everyone fall back into the wonderfully familiar rhythm of banter with a small smile on his face. He wasn’t back home quite yet, but he was getting there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me, cradling Hunk’s precious face in my hands after finishing this chapter: baby, I am so sorry for putting you through 16 chapters of my incredibly self-indulgent bullshit, but I promise I’m going to give you everything you want and deserve soon


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hunk whipped his head away when he caught Keith‘s eye, a hot blush rolling up his neck to his face. Worse still, his Mama was now giving him a considering look. “Krolia? Keith? What are you doing here? Is everything okay?” he asked, perhaps a little too loudly.
> 
> Krolia smiled and waved, the motion deceptively disarming considering the fact that she spent the better part of the last two decades as a spy in Zarkon’s forces. “Everything’s just fine, Hunk. Keith and I heard it’s tradition to bring flowers when a loved one is unwell.” She nudged Keith forward and it was only then Hunk noticed the somewhat haphazard bouquet of sunflowers in Keith’s hands.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I actually had the second half of this chapter written for months, but then a lot of irl things (most of them good, I promise) kind of happened at once, hence the wait. But I like to think this chapter will make up for the long wait ;-)
> 
> Thanks again to [carriecmoney](https://archiveofourown.org/users/carriecmoney) for editing and yelling at me when I need it.

Given the emotional night they’d had, Coran was not surprised to find himself the only one out of their group in the Garrison mess hall the next morning. He smiled and waved at some of the officers he met yesterday, but only received curt nods in response as they eyed him warily. Oh well. It wasn’t these Earthlings’ fault that they never made contact with extraterrestrial life forms until recently.

After loading his tray, he settled in a corner table, keeping his back against the wall and one eye on the room. It was still early, so there was only a handful of people puttering around.

Lance arrived a couple doboshes later. The boy’s skin wasn’t glowing like usual, which likely meant he had foregone going through his strange facial routine last night, but he looked the most at peace Coran had ever seen him in the last decaphoeb they had known each other.

“Mornin’,” he yawned, taking the seat opposite Coran.

“Good morning,” Coran replied cheerfully.

They ate in comfortable silence for the next few doboshes. After travelling in extremely close proximity for several phoebs and sharing living space aboard the Castle of Lions a full decaphoeb before that, Coran didn’t feel the same need to fill the air with inane chatter, not like the way he used to during their little group’s growing pain period.

He peered at Lance over the rim of his cup (he was still getting used to this Earth ‘coffee’ the Paladins were apparently obsessed with, but the caffeinated substance was quickly winning him over) and considered, not for the first time, just how much he—and the other Paladins—had grown. When he first met Lance, he had been dubious about this loud-mouthed boy who pursued the Princess relentlessly despite her very obvious disinterest. But when he looked at Lance, he didn’t see that boy anymore. Instead, the person sitting in front of him now was a young man who has seen things most people in the universe, including Coran himself, could only imagine. He was still growing, of course, but he had already learned so much in the short time that Coran knew him that he suspected it wouldn’t be long before Lance fully came into his own.

 _And become someone who would make Allura very happy_ , Coran thought, his lips crooking into a smile.

There was no missing the way Lance looked at Allura nowadays—softly, hesitantly, the held breath before the rain. Alfor had looked at Melenor the same way as well. And, though perhaps it wasn’t obvious to the others yet, Coran had certainly noticed the way Allura had been looking back. She and Lance made an undoubtedly good team, in more ways than one.

“Hey, Lancy-pants,” came Veronica’s voice, breaking Coran out of his reverie. The young woman popped into view a second later, taking the seat next to Lance. Two of the other MFE pilots—Griffin and Rizavi, if Coran recalled correctly—followed afterwards. Griffin nodded at Coran as he took the spot next to him while Rizavi dropped down in the chair on the other side of the boy. “So, I was just wondering, and be honest with me, are—”

“What the hell is up between Garrett and Kogane?” Rizavi cut in, leaning forward with an eager gleam in her eyes.

Griffin sighed. It was the defeated sound of a commanding officer whose subordinate had just done the exact opposite of what he ordered. Coran was well acquainted with that sound. “Subtle, Nadia, very subtle.”

“What? Come on, Jamie, when have you ever seen Kogane care about anyone who _wasn’t_ Shiro?” Rizavi sniffed. “Admit it, you want to know what their deal is just as much as I do.”

It said a lot that Griffin merely sniffed but didn’t actually deny that statement.

Lance shot Coran a wide-eyed, panicked look. Coran shrugged helplessly. He suspected that any attempts to lie would end badly, but at the same time, divulging any details of Hunk and Keith’s relationship would just be, as the Earthling saying went, “opening a can of worms.”

(Why Earthlings even kept such disgusting creatures in cans, Coran didn’t know, nor did he want to.)

“Why do you think there’s even anything there?” Lance scoffed.

Rizavi shot him a sly grin. “So, you _aren’t_ denying that there _is_ something?”

_Quiznak._

Lance sputtered. Veronica sighed, “Look, there’s clearly something going on with your friends and while we don’t want to pry…”

“Speak for yourself,” Rizavi murmured, wincing when Griffin elbowed her in the ribs.

“…Going forward, as the MFE team’s handler, I need to know if there are going to be any issues that could potentially disrupt our operations,” continued Veronica, ignoring Rizavi’s comment.

“So, spill it, McClain-Serrano—and don’t you dare be stingy with the details,” said Rizavi, reminding Coran of a yupper that just discovered where the yupper-nip was being hidden.

“I’m _not_ spilling anything about my best friend!” Lance squeaked.

“We’re not asking you to _spill_ anything about Hunk _or_ Keith,” said Veronica, quelling Rizavi with a glare. “Look, our team has been the sole defenders of this last piece of unconquered Earth for the past few years while you guys were defending the rest of the _universe_. There is absolutely a hundred percent chance that we’ll have to collaborate with Voltron at some point—the sooner the better, probably.” More softly, she added, “I’m just trying to look out for my team, the same way you are. I wouldn’t ask if I didn’t think it was important.”

She and Lance stared at each other for a few seconds, communicating silently in the way only siblings could, before Lance slumped down in his seat and sighed. “It’s complicated.”

“Ooh, even better—hey!” Rizavi screeched as her chair tipped over without warning, sending her sprawling onto the floor. Griffin looked suspiciously nonchalant as he sipped his coffee.

“And it isn’t exactly our story to tell,” finished Coran. To Veronica, he continued, “But to answer your question—no, I don’t believe there are any issues between Hunk and Keith that will impact future missions.”

 _As long as neither one of them is put in any_ more _danger than is par for the course_ , he thought. Keith may have been the more reckless of the two, but Coran knew he would never do anything if it meant even the slightest risk to Hunk’s safety. And Hunk...well, they all knew exactly what his feelings on the matter were.

“Although, there might be if you ever put any of us in the same room as a Druid,” Lance mumbled darkly.

Rizavi pulled herself up from the floor and righted her seat. “Wait, are you telling me there are _space wizards_ out there?”

“Not quite,” said Coran with a wince.

“They’re _monsters_ ,” Lance spat, his voice scalding with pure hatred. Neither he nor Coran elaborated and the others, thankfully, didn’t ask, but Coran could practically see the question written across their faces.

_What happened out there?_

Eventually, Veronica nodded. “Alright, fair enough. Just let me know if anything changes.”

* * *

When it came down to it, Lance trusted Red. Not only with his life, but also that of his own family—both the biological one and the Paladins.

(He just didn’t know if Red trusted him back.)

 _As Paladins of Voltron, you can connect with your Lions. They will come_ , Shiro had told them.

 _Easier said than done_ , Lance thought, swallowing uneasily as he followed Veronica to her car.

His bond with Red licked and curled around his chest, a hearthfire atop dying coals. He tended to run hotter nowadays, ever since he started piloting Red, and—though he would never admit it out loud—it brought a kind of comfort that Blue hadn’t. Where Blue was the cool, soothing wave at the beach in the peak of summer, Red was the warmth of a fireplace in winter. But, at the end of all things, Red was an unpredictable flame and Lance was only there to fan the Lion’s fire.

“Lance!”

Lance’s heart, without fail, skipped a beat at the sound of Allura’s voice. He turned around.

Allura was standing at the foot of the steps to the car, diamond white hair tied up in a loose bun, more for convenience than appearance’s sake. Stray strands were matted to her forehead and cheeks from sweat, but, to Lance, she looked as fierce and gorgeous as the day he met her.

He’d already gone to war for her—he didn’t think he’d mind death as long as she was the last person he saw.

“I—uh…” Allura gulped, a lovely pink blush blooming over her dark cheeks. “I just wanted to say…”

“Yeah?” Lance held his breath.

She stared at Lance for several heartbeats, eyes bright and throat bobbing. Then, a steely glint entered her eyes—sharp as a dagger—and she squared her shoulders. Before Lance could blink, she clambered up the car, leapt at him, and—

Her lips were chapped against Lance’s, but it was an idle observation, because, more importantly, _she was kissing him_.

Her. Allura. The smartest, kindest, and most beautiful girl Lance had ever met was _kissing him_.

He was faintly aware of Veronica and the rest of the team cheering in the comms, but his only mission at that moment was to wrap his arms around Allura’s waist, pulling her closer against him. Their bodies slotted together perfectly, like this was exactly where they belonged from the very beginning.

Eventually, regretfully, Allura broke the kiss and time started moving again. Their breaths mixed together in a small cloud as they panted softly against each other’s lips. Allura’s hands cradled his cheeks and he had to stop himself from nuzzling them, greedily drinking in everything she was willing to give him.

“I wanted to say...stay safe out there,” she whispered into his mouth, to his soul. “And come back. To me.”

Lance nodded, clasping the back of her palms and squeezing gently. “You too.”

He didn’t know what awaited them in the upcoming battle, but that, at least, was one promise he knew he would do everything in his power to keep.

(Somewhere deep in his chest, he could have sworn he heard Red let out an approving roar.)

* * *

Sweat ran down Keith’s temple, blurring his vision. His limbs weighed down on him like lead. Every single muscle in his body was screaming at him in pain. They just took down six Zaiforge cannons, Sendak himself, and something that looked an awful lot like one of Haggar’s fucking _Robeasts_ —this had to be it, right?

Hunk let out a hiss over the comms, “ _Oh no_...”

 _It’s always something, isn’t it?_ , Keith thought bitterly. “What? What is it?”

“ _The Robeast—it’s powering up_ ,” continued Hunk. On Keith’s screen, he could see the all-too familiar purple glow coming from the Robeast’s chest beginning to flash more quickly. “ _It must have some kind of self-destruct mechanism!_ ”

“ _According to my readings...the blast radius alone will envelope half of the Earth,_ ” Pidge gasped.

And her calculations were rarely, if ever, wrong.

Keith knew what they had to do, even as a stone began to sink to the pit of his stomach. It was the same feeling he got during Naxzela, only it was heavier this time. “Then we need to get it out of here.”

His team obeyed without question, dutifully breaking the Lions apart, and Keith’s love for them grew, nearly consuming him.

As they breached the upper atmosphere, his gaze, by habit, wandered to the Yellow Lion. He didn’t want to die—didn’t want _any_ of his family to die—but the realization that Hunk might not make it stabbed straight through his heart, sharper than any blade.

They could all very well die here in the next few moments—and Hunk still believed that Keith only saw him as a friend.

 _That’s not true_ , Keith thought. Desperation clawed up his throat, a thousand hands choking him at once. Three other words hovered in his chest, just begging to burst.

“It’s been an honour to fly with you all,” he said instead. “Now, everyone, give it everything you got!”

The last thing he remembered thinking before the explosion was how perfectly Hunk’s hand fit in his. He wanted that. He wanted that and everything else—the blood, tears, and joy—that came with having one’s heart so entangled with someone else that he couldn’t even breathe without, inevitably, breathing in some of Hunk’s essence as well. Nothing else mattered—not Shiro, the Quantum Abyss, Voltron, or anything else.

_If we make it out of here—_

* * *

As Hunk floated to awareness, the first thing he registered was a sound that he hadn’t heard in over a year.

“—that’s _why he hasn’t aged? Because they travelled through time?_ ” came Uncle Filo’s booming voice in his and Dad’s native Samoan, Hunk’s favourite language in the whole universe.

“Whoa…” the twins gasped, sounding more impressed than worried like Uncle Filo had.

“ _That alien_ —Coran, right?— _said there shouldn’t be anything to worry about_ ,” said Dad. He sounded really close, like he was sitting right by Hunk’s head.

“ _He…He says that a lot. I wouldn’t trust him_ ,” Hunk murmured, forcing his eyes open. It was far too bright in what he could only assume was the cold, sterile Garrison hospital wing, but that didn’t matter, because he was greeted to a much, much nicer sight.

His parents were sitting side by side next to his bed. Uncle Filo and Aunt Maya were standing by the window while Kyle and Ava were sitting on the other side of his bed, staring at him with wide eyes. They all looked older—and since when was Kyle almost as tall as Hunk?—and a little worse for wear, but they were _alive_ and they were _here_.

Tears were already rolling down his cheeks as Mama lunged at him with a cry, nearly scooping him up in her arms completely. His dad and the rest of the family followed suit, piling on top of him in a hug that was warmer than the sun.

 _I’m back_ , Hunk thought, curling up as close to his family as he physically could. _I’m home._

* * *

Shiro and a couple of Garrison doctors came by at some point to give Hunk a quick debrief (“Everyone’s a little banged up, but we’re all okay,” beamed Shiro, oblivious to the way Hunk’s cousins were staring at his new Altean arm, utterly starstruck) and check on his vitals. After the doctors declared Hunk to be as hale as he could be under the circumstances, Hunk and his family were left alone.

Hunk didn’t know how much time passed as he recounted his team’s adventure to his family (though he carefully avoided any mention of his kidnapping; he knew he had to tell them eventually, but...not right now), but it was long enough that he needed to break for water a few times. Kyle and Ava clung to his side like glue the entire time, as if terrified that he was going to disappear as soon as they let go.

Hunk, for his part, couldn’t take his eyes off his family. He noted every new wrinkle on his parents, uncle, and aunt’s faces, and tried to memorize the deeper cadences of his cousins’ voices as they asked him a steady stream of questions.

Hunk didn’t mind, though, even as fatigue weighed down on his eyelids. He’d already lost so much time with his family and, now that he was back, he was determined to make up as much of it as possible. They may have won a significant battle, but Hunk knew, as he clutched his stone lion, that the war was far from over.

Two rapid knocks at the door interrupted them a few hours later. It was late enough that the sun was just setting, bathing Hunk’s hospital room in cotton candy pink. Hunk’s parents shot him a curious look, but he could only shrug. He’d already been looked over by the doctors and Shiro had given his word that the team would be left alone for the next two days as they (not to mention the Lions) recovered from their injuries. He had no idea who this visitor could be.

“It’s probably a nurse,” Aunt Maya reasoned as Uncle Filo opened the door—

—and stiffened as Krolia came into view, Keith leaning heavily against her side. The twins drew closer to Hunk’s side, Ava trembling a little.

“It’s okay! They’re the good guys!” Hunk rushed to reassure them. His gaze drifted over Keith’s form—cataloguing the dark bags that dragged under his eyes, the bandages wrapped around his forehead, and the handful of new scars and bruises scattered across his face, although none of them could compare to that horrible spiderweb scar that dominated his right cheek.

(But none of that stopped Hunk’s heart from skipping a beat.)

He whipped his head away when he caught Keith‘s eye, a hot blush rolling up his neck to his face. Worse still, his Mama was now giving him a considering look. “Krolia? Keith? What are you doing here? Is everything okay?” he asked, perhaps a little too loudly.

Krolia smiled and waved, the motion deceptively disarming considering the fact that she spent the better part of the last two decades as a spy in Zarkon’s forces. “Everything’s just fine, Hunk. Keith and I heard it’s tradition to bring flowers when a loved one is unwell.” She nudged Keith forward and it was only then Hunk noticed the somewhat haphazard bouquet of sunflowers in Keith’s hands.

Keith clutched the flowers to his chest like a shield as everyone pinned their gazes on him. He gulped and mimicked his mother’s wave. “H-Hey.”

Ignoring the fact that Keith and his mom were here to give him _flowers, apparently_ , Hunk cleared his throat. “Um, everyone, this is Keith. He’s the Black Paladin and leader of Voltron. And this is his mom, Krolia. She’s a member of that super secret ninja group I told you guys about earlier—the Blade of Marmora,” he explained. By this point, Kyle and Ava, at least, seemed to have forgotten their trepidation and were now staring at their visitors in awe. “Keith, Krolia, this is my family.”

“It’s an honour to meet you all,” said Krolia, dipping her head. “Hunk is truly one of the most remarkable people I’ve ever met.” Hunk blushed and scratched the back of his neck in embarrassment.

“Oh—um, thank you,” Mama said faintly, glancing back and forth between her and Hunk. “Did you need Hunk for something?”

Keith jumped and shook his head. “N-No! I mean, _yes_ , but…” he trailed off as his eyes met Hunk’s again. He bit his lip. “…But I can come back later. It’s not important.”

Hunk caught his parents exchanging unreadable looks before his Mama smiled warmly and stood up. “It sure sounds important if you brought such pretty flowers all the way over here. We can wait outside.”

“If I may, I was hoping you could all accompany me to the hangars,” said Krolia as she pushed Keith over the threshold, ignoring his yelp. “Some members of my organization will be arriving with a shipment of food shortly, and I’d be very grateful if you could assist us in sorting them in case any of it turns out to be toxic for your kind. Hunk has told us a lot about your family’s culinary expertise.”

At that, Uncle Filo perked up and began rolling his sleeves up to his elbows. “Alien food, huh? Well, sign me up!”

“Are you guys going to talk about top secret Voltron stuff or something?” Kyle asked without any shred of subtlety.

Keith looked like a fish that couldn’t believe it had just gotten caught on the line, eyes wide and mouth gaping open. Hunk couldn’t help grinning. Keith was almost as bad as Allura when it came to dealing with kids, but Hunk would be the first to acknowledge that his cousins, as much as he loved them, could be infuriating little shits when they wanted to be.

“Yeah, something like that, which means it’s time for you to go,” Hunk teased. He patted Kyle on the shoulder, nudging him and Ava towards the door.

“We can keep a secret,” Ava chirped, even as she dutifully let Aunt Maya lead her away.

Mama leaned down to give Hunk a peck on the forehead. “We’ll be back soon,” she whispered.

Dad squeezed his shoulder before getting up as well and following after her. He nodded at Keith as he passed him, eyes narrowed in scrutiny. Keith gulped, but, to his credit, didn’t flinch or look away. Hunk didn’t understand why he seemed so nervous, though. Keith had definitely gone up against Galra that were much bigger and more imposing than Hunk’s dad.

Finally, once everyone had left the room, Krolia smiled at Hunk one last time before closing the door with a soft ‘ _click_ ’. Neither Hunk or Keith moved as the voices of both their families faded away. When Keith _still_ didn’t move from where he was rooted by the door, his face sunset-red and eyes locked on the ground, Hunk—now wide awake—took the first plunge. “Um, did you want to sit?”

Keith’s head snapped up, as if whatever spell he was under had just been broken, and stumbled towards the chair Mama had vacated. “Er, yeah, thanks,” he mumbled as he sat down. “And—uh, these are for you.” He held the flowers out, almost obscuring his face from view entirely. “I-I mean—I guess you already know that.”

It really wasn’t fair for a half-alien sword-wielding ninja to be _so cute_.

...Yeah, Hunk’s dumb heart _still_ wasn’t over Keith yet, apparently.

“Thanks,” said Hunk, taking the flowers and placing them gingerly in the empty vase on his bedside table. A thought occurred to him and he snorted. “What did Lance say when you gave him his flowers?” He didn’t know _why_ Keith was suddenly giving out flowers, but then again, there was a lot about Keith that was still a mystery, even now.

Keith blinked. “Um, I didn’t give him any. Or anyone else.”

_...What?_

Hunk didn’t miss the way Keith’s cheeks reddened even more. Something within him...cocked its head to the side as an ember sparked to life deep in his chest. He couldn’t even begin to parse through what it was, but it was _something_. “Oh, well, thanks,” he said again, at a loss for anything more appropriate to say. “Um, anyway, what did you want to talk about?”

Keith swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing furiously along his pale, thin neck. “I—There’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you for a while now, but I...couldn’t find the words until now,” he began, voice shaking. His shoulders were nearly hunched all the way up to his ears and his fists were clenched tightly in his lap. He dropped his head, hiding his face from view behind his curtain of hair. “A-And maybe I’m too late—and that’s on me—but I just wanted you to know that…” he trailed off.

After a few seconds, Hunk gulped, “What is it?” He fiddled with his lion. Whatever Keith wanted to talk about, it had to be pretty serious, because Hunk had never seen the other boy like this before.

Keith breathed in, breathed out, and finally lifted his head. He looked calmer, more sure of himself now. A determined fire burned in his eyes. “I love you,” he said. He said it so simply, too, like it was a universal truth that _everyone_ just knew.

Hunk felt his heart twist into itself. The ember in his core grew hotter, but he stomped down on the flame. _No_ , his brain was screaming, _bad idea, bad idea, bad idea_. “Keith—”

But Keith barrelled on, “A-And I want another chance. To...To make you happy.” His dark indigo eyes were still locked on Hunk’s.

Hunk couldn’t look away even if he wanted to.

“Just...Just one more chance. In whatever capacity you’re willing to have me,” Keith finished, his voice a quiet plea.

Hunk squeezed his stone lion as tightly as he could, letting its weight ground him. “Why...” his voice cracked, “Why do you want that?”

 _Why do you want_ me _?_

Keith blinked at his question, like it was something he didn’t think he needed to consider. “Because you’re brilliant,” he answered. “You’re one of the bravest people I know and you’re so goddamn intelligent that it’s kind of terrifying sometimes.” Keith gave him a soft smile. “But most of the time, it’s a privilege to see you in action.” Hunk couldn’t help blushing at the compliment. “And, even after everything you’ve been through, you still have this...this light around you. You can still laugh, make jokes, and do what you love—and you never give up. I-I want to see more of that, to be there with you, and maybe catch some of that light if I can.”

Hunk could only stare.

(The fire in his heart grew.)

“Do you want me to keep going?” Keith asked. He sounded so earnest, too, like he was ready to write sonnets the instant Hunk asked him to. He would probably fumble at it, but the determination in his eyes would more than make up for it.

Hunk quickly shook his head. “Um, n-no, it’s fine,” he stammered. He closed his eyes and inhaled. Exhaled. Opened his eyes and dropped his gaze to his lap.

His hands were shaking.

“What about Shiro?” he asked in a whisper. His eyes darted up through his fringe to see how Keith would react.

Keith was sitting ramrod straight, a soldier on the frontlines. He looked like he had been expecting this question, though. “I still have some feelings for Shiro,” he admitted quietly.

Hunk tightened his grip over the lion head and nodded. He knew this had been coming, but that didn’t mean the words didn’t still cut.

“But they’re not—what I feel for him is...different from the way I feel about you.” Keith took a shaky breath before continuing, “Shiro—there’s always been this distance between us. Yeah, he’s like a brother to me, but I think I always knew that he wasn’t really attainable. And not just because he‘s been with Adam for so long, but because we were never—we’re not really equals.”

Hunk blinked. This...was new information.

“But you...you push back in ways that no one’s done for me before,” Keith went on. “Like when we were in that stupid Weblum or when we all got space madness—or even when you called me out in front of everyone after we spent a whole day chasing some stupid yalmor.” His lips curled into a wry grin, one that Hunk really, really wanted to kiss. “You meet me halfway when I need it and I want to do that for you, too. You said that you didn’t want to be my second choice and the thing is...you’re not. That’s…” Keith took another deep, shuddering breath. “You’re _amazing_ , Hunk. And I’m so, _so_ sorry that it took me so long to see that—to _really_ see that—but it’s the truth. I don’t need the Quantum Abyss to know that you could never be anyone’s second choice and I’ll do everything I can to remind you of that for the rest of my life...if I still can,” he finished.

Keith was a _terrible_ liar. It was always easy to tell when he was trying to hide something. But Hunk didn’t get the sense that he was lying now. He really was telling the truth.

Hunk loosened his grip on the lion, just a little. “You really hurt me,” he blurted out. As much as it ached to pull those words out, there was something freeing about finally laying them out in the open between them.

Keith flinched and hunched his shoulders again. “I know,” he whispered.

“I don’t…” Hunk chewed his lip. “I don’t know if I can go through something like that again.”

“I know,” Keith repeated, voice hoarse. “I...I can’t promise that I won’t ever fuck up again because—well, we both know how I am,” he gave a self-deprecating chuckle, like he was letting Hunk in on a private joke. “But,” he continued, tone becoming serious, “if-if I do, even though it’s absolutely the last thing I ever want to do, it won’t be because my feelings will have changed. I promise.” He swallowed. “So, if I haven’t completely fucked everything up, I hope you’ll give me another chance. But if you want to stay friends or-or even just teammates and nothing else, I...I’ll respect that.”

 _Do you think the cub will still love you after this?_ , Macidus had taunted Keith.

 _Yes_ , some small part of Hunk’s brain growled back fiercely.

He was scared—hell, he was terrified out of his mind—that saying ‘yes’ would lead to even more heartbreak, this time for good. And yet— _yet_ —the stupid part of him that fell in love with the boy who got his Mama’s cookies back for him from a bunch of nameless bullies all those years ago still reached out for him, even now.

He took a chance, once, when he followed his best friend and the people he now called family into the jaws of a giant mechanical blue lion. Theoretically, he could take another chance now, one that somehow seemed to carry higher stakes than getting shot out into space all those years ago did.

And, if he was honest with himself, he was tired of letting his fears and hurt dictate his actions. It felt too much like letting Macidus win.

 _So fuck you and your horse_ , Hunk thought viciously, looking up to meet Keith’s eyes.

Keith swallowed and sat up straight, hands curled tightly over his knees. He was looking at Hunk like he was holding his heart in his hand.

(The fire began to blaze.)

“Yes,” said Hunk.

Keith sucked in a breath. “Y-Yes?”

Hunk licked his lips. “Yeah,” he repeated, voice growing louder as confidence surged through him. “I mean, there’s probably a _lot_ that we still need to talk about, but...I want to try again.”

It felt...really, really good to be able to say ‘yes’ to Keith, to still _have_ the ability to say ‘yes’, even after everything they had been through.

And seeing Keith’s answering smile, a wide, gorgeous thing, felt even better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There are 2 more chapters left but I promise that we have finally reached the end of the angst train! ~~And it only took 17 bloody chapters to get here!~~
> 
> No matter when you started reading this fic, thank you so much for sticking with it. It means a lot and I hope you're still enjoying it as much as I've been enjoying writing this.
> 
> Once again, comments and kudos are much appreciated!

**Author's Note:**

> (I promise I love you, Hunk ;-;)
> 
> Comments and kudos would be much appreciated! And please feel free to yell at me about Voltron at my [Twitter](https://twitter.com/britomarttis)!


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